Malcolm Smith was sprung from prison last year and nobody knew about it.

 

 NY Post

 Former state Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith was quietly sprung early from prison last year — and is being allowed to complete the remainder of his seven-year public corruption sentence at his home in Queens, The Post has learned.

News of Smith’s home confinement comes after ex-Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was furloughed for a few days after having served less than a year of six-and-a-half year sentence for corruption — but was quickly ordered back to the clink by federal authorities.

The federal Bureau of Prisons said Smith, 64, was transferred from Lewisburg prison in Pennsylvania to “community confinement” on May 27, 2020, during the peak of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Smith’s projected release date from custody is Oct. 22, 2021.

Law enforcement sources said it’s not unusual for the BOP to transition inmates to community supervision or home confinement near the end of their sentence.

Smith is back at his home in Jamaica, Queens, and was outside wearing a bathrobe and watering his lawn Sunday morning. 

 Malcolm is home. I spoke to Malcolm and I spoke to his wife,” said Queens Assemblywoman Vivian Cook. “He’s doing fine.”

Another pal who spoke to Smith said, “Malcolm sounded terrific. He’s a man of faith,”

The Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Smith, declined comment.

Smith, a Democrat who represented southeast Queens in the state Senate, was convicted of corrupting the political process by trying to buy his way onto the Republican ballot in a scheme to become mayor of New York City in 2013.

He was done in when he unknowingly turned to Moses Stern — a crooked Rockland County developer turned cooperating federal witness — as well as another man Smith thought was a developer but who was actually an undercover federal agent.

Smith pushed both for money to aid in his mayoral dream by steering funds to city Republican Party officials.

In turn, Smith promised them $500,000 in transportation funds for a project in Spring Valley.

Malcolm Smith probe may not yet be over

From Lohud:

The FBI and U.S. Attorney's Office used an Orthodox Jewish radio program in an elaborate sting operation that helped the government convict Malcolm Smith and other New York politicians in a corruption scandal, a four-month investigation by The Journal News/lohud revealed.

It is unclear whether there are other targets, including New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who appeared on the show as a state senator prior to the 2010 election with Moses Stern, later revealed to be an FBI cooperator. Stern appeared twice on the show prior to election day using aliases, posing as both a political analyst and a resident from Brooklyn. He urged listeners to vote for Schneiderman.

Prosecutors disclosed little about the New York Jewish Communications Channel to defense lawyers for two people convicted in the sting operation. The show was hosted by longtime Orthodox radio personality Zev Brenner, who owns Talkline Communications Network, and registered with the state by Joseph Markowitz, whose name was linked to thousands in campaign donations to Schneiderman, who has not been accused of wrongdoing, and an illegal donation to Halloran. After the Smith arrests, Schneiderman pledged to donate the contributions from Markowitz and Markowitz's wife to charity.

Malcolm's in the clink

From the Daily News:

Disgraced Queens politician Malcolm Smith surrendered to prison Friday in rural Pennsylvania after a failed bid to stay out of jail pending appeal of his corruption conviction.

Smith, once a top leader in the state Senate and lifelong Democrat, was convicted of bribing political leaders to back a quixotic mayoral bid as a Republican.

Late Thursday Manhattan U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth Karas rejected Smith’s request to hold off on surrendering to federal prison while his appeal is under review.

Smith had been given a surrender date of 2 p.m. Friday, and he self-surrendered early Friday to the U.S. Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa., where he’ll be known as inmate 68381-054.

The penitentiary is a high-security prison with an adjacent minimum security prison camp. It was not clear where Smith would be assigned, but white collar criminals like Smith are usually assigned to the lower-security facilities in the U.S. Bureau of Prisons.

Smith & Tabone receive their sentences

From Capital New York:

Former New York state senator Malcolm Smith was sentenced Wednesday to seven years in prison after being convicted of trying to bribe his way onto the Republican ballot in the 2013 race for New York City mayor.

Smith, a Democrat and the former Senate majority leader, was convicted in February of wire fraud, bribery and extortion.

Co-defendant Vincent Tabone, a Republican party leader in Queens who was convicted of taking a bribe from an undercover FBI agent, was sentenced to 42 months in prison.

“Bribes and kickbacks should never play a role in the selection of candidates for public office,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “By attempting to buy and sell a spot on New York City’s mayoral ballot, Malcolm Smith and Vincent Tabone corrupted one of the most fundamental tenets of the democratic process, that candidates cannot bribe their way onto a ballot.”

Malcolm Smith, Vince Tabone convicted

From NBC:

Former Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith has been found guilty of scheming to bribe Republican party leaders so he could run on the GOP line in a New York City mayoral race, making him the latest ex-Albany leader to be convicted of corruption.

Smith is the latest line in Albany's corrupt legacy. Sheldon Silver, speaker of the State Assembly for more than two decades, was arrested late last month on federal corruption charges.

Vince Tabone was also convicted on all charges.

Tabone really stepped in it!

From the NY Post:

As jury selection began Monday in the new bribery trial for former state senator Malcolm Smith, his co-defendant was slapped with ​new charges — for allegedly tampering with a witness.

Prosecutors say former Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone on May 23 confronted Philip Ragusa, who then chaired the borough’s GOP party, at his home and tried to convince him not to testify when Tabone and Smith were on trial earlier this year for trying to fix the 2013 mayoral race.

That White Plains federal court proceeding resulted in a June mistrial following the feds’ late release of more than 92 hours of recordings – including 28 hours in Yiddish yet to be translated.

A superseding indictment in the $200,000 bribery case now alleges Tabone spoke to the “county chairman,” who is not mentioned by name, while the chairman was “failing in health” and “resting in bed” and “encouraged” him not to testify. Tabone also allegedly claimed “no court” could “force” Ragusa to testify. The death-bed conversation took place an hour before Ragusa was supposed to give a deposition to prosecutors.

Ragusa, who was never charged with wrongdoing, was expected to eventually testify at the trial in defense of another co-defendant, former Councilman Dan Halloran (R-Queens), but died in June of leukemia.

I gotta laugh at this, because Tabone originally claimed that he would get the charges dismissed because he wasn't an elected official and therefore couldn't be charged with bribery and now he went ahead and screwed himself. Once you're charged with a federal crime, it's best not to talk to anyone because the wiretaps and nervous witnesses are more than likely gonna trip you up.

Smith demanded quid pro quo

From the NY Post:

They say he offered to sell Albany votes like shares of stock — and now federal prosecutors want to use those fundraising boasts to send state Sen. Malcolm Smith to jail.

The disgraced Queens breakaway Democrat, whose corruption trial for trying to buy his way onto the Republican line for mayor last year resumes in January, warned dozens of top New York lobbyists that their clients would be shut out of state politics if they didn’t make large contributions, the feds say in a new filing.

“Smith told the attendees that they should treat the fundraiser as an ‘IPO’ [initial public offering] by donating early while prices were low and while there was still an opportunity to participate,” Assistant US Attorney Justin Anderson wrote Wednesday of the August 2008 gathering in upstate Kingston.

“Smith’s comments implied that those who failed to make contributions to his campaign at that time would find themselves having to pay more later or being unable to accomplish anything with the Senate under Smith’s leadership.”

Smith told the lobbyists then that the Democrats were expected to win control of the Senate in that upcoming November election and that he’d be among the key pols calling the shots for the reorganized legislative body.

Anderson filed the legal papers last week asking White Plains federal Judge Kenneth Karas to allow prosecutors to present the boast as evidence at Smith’s trial.

Linking contributions to future government actions is illegal under New York law.

Win or lose, it's all about the money

From the Observer:

The Queens attorney, trounced this month in a three-way primary for indicted State Senator Malcolm Smith’s seat, quietly funneled more than $40,000 in campaign cash to his own law firm during and after the race. The eyebrow-raising move, while legal under New York State’s porous election law, has infuriated some of his bundlers and raised new ethical questions about the first-time candidate’s purpose for even seeking elected office.

But Mr. Avery claimed he simply selected the Law Office of Munir Avery because of its “experience, dedication and commitment to affordable legal services”–even though Mr. Avery paid his firm more cash than Gov. Andrew Cuomo gave to his ace election lawyer. “The campaign hired The Law office of Munir Avery for its experience in the legal compliance consulting field. If you look at the amount every other campaign spends for these services you will find this fee to be quite affordable and in sync with the industry as a whole,” Mr. Avery said in a statement.

“The campaign looked at several service providers and determined the Law Office of Munir Avery was the best option because of their experience, dedication and commitment to affordable legal services,” he added.

Practicing elder law and estate administration, Mr. Avery has served as a counsel to Queens Assemblyman Michael Simanowitz. The failed candidate’s law office website is a Tumblr page and sources say he is the firm’s lone employee.

Remarkably, the $40,852 spent on “legal compliance” fees to himself from July until 10 days after the primary represented about half of his total campaign expenses. In that time, he managed to raise more than $80,000, keeping pace with Mr. Comrie and Mr. Smith.

One government watchdog said it wasn’t “atypical” for a candidate to send money to his own law firm or staff, but questioned the sheer amount Mr. Avery spent and his lack of disclosure about its purpose.

Queens Dem voters reject corruption

The results are in, and Queens voters have 86'd Malcolm Smith and re-elected Tony Avella. Incumbency ruled the rest.

Queens Dem voters in SD11 don't really care about party loyalty so much as they care about being represented honorably.

Thus far John Liu has refused to concede even though it's mathematically impossible for him to win, which speaks volumes about his character.

Summarizing southeastern Queens corruption

From NY1:

State Senator Malcolm Smith starts his Saturday praying.

"God, let him go back into his elected official office," a preacher says.

Whether that will happen after next week's Democratic primary is unclear.

Smith faces a new bribery trial in January. The first one this summer ended abruptly in a mistrial.

"It has a profound impact on you. There is no question about it," Smith said. "I have never been involved with the law in any regard."

He is also staring down his toughest re-election fight yet, against a former City Councilman, Leroy Comrie.

Smith's indictment rattled the city's political world, but he is hardly the first elected official in southeast Queens to be slapped with handcuffs.

Former state Senator Shirley Huntley had the experience in 2012. Earlier this year, it was City Councilman Ruben Wills.

"I know because of where I come from and the color I am, it doesn't usually work like that with you guys, but I am presumed innocent," Wills said in May.

It's a familiar line.

"I always continue to tell people of my innocence, and the more information that comes out, the more they realize," Smith said.

It's also a familiar subject: federal investigations into politicians' pockets.

"All of us, whoever we are, once you get elected, you're a target, and I think we realize that we are targets," said Rep. Gregory Meeks of Queens.

It seems that focus is zeroed in on southeast Queens, with scandal after scandal slamming the same neighborhoods.

Malcolm Smith confident in win

From WPIX:

Despite facing retrial on federal bribery charges in January and difficulties raising campaign funds, Sen. Malcolm Smith remains optimistic about re-election.

Smith has held a seat on the State Senate for 14 years. His most formidable challenger is former city Councilman Leroy Comrie, who has the backing of the Queens Democratic Party and a number of unions, including the 120,000-member Teamsters Joint Council 16.

Some of the pundits say the race could be a toss up. The question is can the candidate under the cloud of serious felony charges overcome the stigma of a federal indictment and win re-election to the Senate. Smith believes he can.

I like the condition of the American flag outside his office...

Taking trash cleanup into their own hands

Residents had been calling the borough president's office for about five weeks to complain about: over grown weeds, garbage and other disturbing elements at our famous park, 109th. & Merrick Boulevard.

Early Friday morning, 8/15/14, I observed sanitation workers at the site. They took up bags of garbage, but left the garbage that was scattered. Later in the day, I called Ms. Boranian/liaison at b/p's office, and informed her of my observation.

She told me that she will call the sanitation department and have the workers return and remove the scattered garbage. She also said that she will have the weeds removed. However, that statement did not become a reality.

So, the next day around 7:00 a.m on Saturday, members and supporters of team P/J -- Clean Up Jamaica Now, arrived at the famous park. The breeze was cool and the atmosphere was calm. The eyesore however, was still present.

Several of us, rolled up our sleeves, protected our hands with gloves and began to clean up. We had in our possession: brooms, rakes, shovels, large garbage bags and other tools.

Approximately, one hour and a half later, we completed the job. About eight bags were filled; some with the scattered garbage, others with weeds and dry leaves.

The three participants: Leroy Comrie, Malcolm Smith and Munir Avery are vying to be our next senator. They are aware of the permanent eyesore. However, only Munir Avery showed up to assist in the clean up.

*** This event was organized with the assistance of my comrade-in-arms/Joe
Moretti.

Before ---- photos were taken on Friday, 8/15/14. Sanitation workers left some of the garbage scattered on the ground. Also, the bagless garbage bin is filthy with residue. - Pamela Hazel

Smith's defense is gentrification

From the Politicker:

Embattled State Senator Malcolm Smith told a Queens audience last night that racially motivated forces of gentrification are behind his indictment on charges he attempted to bribe his way onto the 2013 Republican ticket for mayor.

At a debate in the Majority Baptist Church against his two opponents in the Democratic primary, former Councilman Leroy Comrie and attorney Munir Avery, Mr. Smith was given two minutes to address his legal problems. Mr. Smith warned the crowd that the accusations are part of a plot to eliminate a powerful black outer borough politician and target his district for real estate development and racial displacement.

“Don’t get caught up with the innuendos, don’t get caught up with the media spin, don’t get caught up with the false allegations. I can’t tell you much, but I can tell you one thing: being an African-American who is from Queens, who is independent, who is ambitious, must have upset somebody,” Mr. Smith, whose opponents in the primary are both also black, said. “Be careful who you talk to, be careful what you say. Because they’ve got their eye on southeast Queens, they’re trying to shift it. The same way Harlem is no longer Harlem and Brooklyn is no longer Brooklyn.”

Mr. Smith continued that he could not yet name who was behind the plot he alleged–which he claimed was behind the recent indictments of other prominent black elected leaders–but said that the culprit would be revealed at his retrial in January. Prosecutorial mishandling of evidence caused an upstate judge to declare a mistrial in the initial proceedings against Mr. Smith in June.

“You will see my innocence is exactly what I say it is. You find out who is behind the attack on all the African-American leadership in this city, that will come out as well,” he said. “If you don’t believe southeast Queens gentrification is beginning to happen, look around.”

Meeks has Comrie's back

From the Queens Chronicle:

Congressman Gregory Meeks (D-Queens, Nassau) is set to join the parade of local officials endorsing former Councilman Leroy Comrie in his bid to unseat state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis).

Meeks is expected to lead a contingent of up to a dozen elected office holders giving the challenger their backing Tuesday morning at Comrie’s campaign headquarters in St. Albans.

In a related matter, Democratic donors also appear to be flocking to Comrie.

In campaign finance reports filed last week, which are mandated by the state 32 days before the Sept. 9 primary, Comrie’s camp reported more than $81,000 still in the bank.

What Queens lawmakers don't do in Albany

From the Times Ledger:

State Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis) was absent in Albany more than all his colleagues in the chamber, except for Sen. Adriano Espaillat (D-Washington Heights), who was mounting an unsuccessful bid for Congress.

But Smith was among the Senate’s top 10 drafters of resolutions adopted by both houses, the New York Public Interest Research Group’s review of the 2014 state legislative session found.

NYPIRG, a nonpartisan good government group, compiled an analysis of this year’s action in Albany. The report found lawmakers have sent fewer bills to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s desk than any state executive has received in the past century.

Smith was among seven senators who were absent and excused from at least 100 votes in 2014, NYPIRG’s report said.

Smith, who spent part of the session on trial in a federal corruption case, missed 808 votes. This put him directly behind Espaillat, an uptown Manhattan congressional hopeful who was not present during 891 votes.

Smith’s office said they believed his absences all occurred when he was in federal court and on trial for allegedly attempting to bribe his way onto the Republican line in the 2013 mayoral election.

In the Assembly, NYPIRG said four Queens lawmakers were among 18 who missed at least 150 votes, including Assembly members Aravella Simotas (D-Astoria) with 275 excuses or absences; Andrew Hevesi (D-Forest Hills) with 264; Margaret Markey (D-Maspeth) with 172; and William Scarborough (D-Jamaica) with 168.

No Queens lawmaker made NYPIRG’s lists of Assembly and Senate members who prime sponsored the most legislation that made it through their respective chamber — or both. A prime sponsor is the lawmaker who first backs a measure in his or her house.

But Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) was among 11 senators who prime sponsored at least 150 active bills in 2014, according to the report.

Avella, a member of the Independent Democratic Conference that had split from mainline Democrats and controlled the Senate with Republicans, was only able to get eight of these measures through both chambers, NYPIRG said.

Mistrial for Tabone & Smith

From Pix11:

A federal judge has declared a mistrial for a state senator and a former Queens Republican leader.

A New York City councilman has opted to go forward with his trial.

Federal Judge Kenneth Karas declared the mistrial Tuesday for state Sen. Malcolm Smith and ex-GOP leader Vincent Tabone. Their retrial is scheduled to start Jan. 5, 2015.

Former New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran is due back in court next week.

Halloran, Smith trial on hold

From the Times Ledger:

Hours of conversations and hundreds of text messages in Yiddish have stalled the federal corruption trial of state Sen. Malcolm Smith (D-Hollis), former Bayside Councilman Daniel Halloran and the ex-vice chairman of the Queens Republican Party, Vincent Tabone.

Attorneys representing the Queens trio, who are charged with participating in Smith’s alleged scheme to bribe his way onto the GOP line for the 2013 mayoral election, have urged the judge to dismiss the indictments and call a mistrial because they say the government did not turn over Yiddish conversations quickly enough for them to prepare for proceedings.

Judge Kenneth Karas instructed prosecutors and defense attorneys to submit documents detailing their arguments over the weekend and planned to resolve the dispute during a Monday conference in federal court in White Plains, according to Herb Hadad, a spokesman for prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Hadad said the judge intended to call the jury back Tuesday and inquire whether the jurors could remain in court past June, when he had initially planned to wrap up the trial.

Karas then will decide how to proceed.

Dan's dirty hands exposed in court

From the NY Post:

Former City Councilman Dan Halloran offered to dole out tens of thousands of dollars in no-show city consulting work to an undercover agent in exchange for funds to boost a congressional run — and then demanded to be paid even after losing the race, the federal agent told jurors Monday.

Jurors at the White Plains federal corruption trial of Halloran, state Sen. Malcolm Smith and Queens GOP operative Vincent Tabone also heard audiotape of Halloran telling the agent that he’ll take his money in cash.

“Look, at this point, we don’t need all of it in checks. We can take green now,” he says in a Nov. 15, 2012, meeting at the Ritz-Carlton hotel in White Plains also attended by crooked developer-turned-FBI-informant Moses Stern.

“Cause now I can . . . I can pay vendors off,” he says. “Before, I had to show money coming in to help my campaign. Now, I don’t have to.”

Later that same day, Halloran (R-Queens) sent the agent — whose real name wasn’t provided to jurors — an e-mail containing a commitment letter pre-dated four days and promising $40,000 to $80,000 for consulting work on a Queens YMCA.

“I was being very clear that I was going to take his money,” the agent testified. “I expected we would do zero work related to that.”

The agent also said he previously gave Stern $6,500 in cash to create checks in others people’s names for Halloran’s campaign.

Halloran is also accused of pocketing $20,500 in cash bribes for masterminding cross-party negotiations for a failed bid to get Smith — one of the state’s top Democrats — the Republican line in last year’s mayoral race.

Photo from the Daily News

Malcolm doesn't think he did anything wrong

From the NY Post:

Queens state Sen. Malcolm Smith wants to present a surprise witness to prove his innocence at his upcoming corruption trial — convicted ex-Queens Sen. Shirley Huntley, stunning new court papers filed Friday reveal.

Smith, who is claiming he was framed by the government, wants two secret conversations that Huntley recorded with him submitted as evidence to bolster his defense.

“These recorded conversations demonstrate that Smith had no predisposition to engage in any criminal conduct,” Smith attorney Gerald Shargel said.

“On these recordings, Huntley proposes various unlawful acts in which she hoped to ensnare Smith. Each time, Smith rejected her criminal overtures,” Shargel added.

From the Daily News:

Embattled state Sen. Malcolm Smith says there’s nothing wrong with having politicians on the “payroll.”

In papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court on Friday, Smith said there was nothing unusual or criminal about his comments, caught on an FBI wiretap, that he helped himself get to a leadership position in 2008 by spreading cash around to his Democratic colleagues.

The feds shouldn’t be allowed to use that against him because it’s not illegal, Smith’s papers say.

Comrie vs. Smith

From NY1:

NY1 has learned that former City Councilman Leroy Comrie of Queens will challenge embattled state Senator Malcolm Smith in a Democratic primary.

Comrie had represented the 27th Council District in Southeast Queens from 2002 until last year.

He'll face off against Smith as the state senator awaits trial on federal corruption charges.

This was originally reported by the Queens Tribune.