Contractor cops to bribery

From the Daily News:

A general contractor who worked on the buildings that exploded in the East Village earlier this year pleaded guilty to bribery in an unrelated case Wednesday.

Dilber Kukic, 40, copped to bribery, a felony, in Manhattan Supreme Court Wednesday morning.

He admitted to handing off $600 to an undercover officer in the investigator's car in an effort to get violations cleared from a pair of buildings he owns on W. 173rd St. on an expedited basis.

Justice Marcy Kahn offered a sentence of probation and 200 hours of community service in exchange for his admission.

He will also have to cough up a $4,000 fine.

Pedro sent to the clink for 5 years

From CBS New York:

Former state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., who pleaded guilty to tax fraud, was sentenced Friday to five years in prison.

Espada blew a kiss to supporters before deputy marshals took him out of courtroom. The once-influential politician was convicted previously in a separate case alleging he looted more than $500,000 from taxpayer-subsidized health clinics in the Bronx.

Espada founded and operated the Soundview Health Center for three decades until prosecutors accused him of turning the network into a personal ATM.

Prosecutors have said Espada spent some of the stolen funds on lobster dinners, the remodeling of his Westchester home, flowers for his wife and ponies for a grandchild’s birthday party.

Espada was apparently calm as he strutted into the courtroom on Friday, but that confidence was quickly erased as a judge handed the former Bronx State Senator five-years in jail. The sentence begins immediately, giving Espada no time to get his affairs in order.

Speaking before the sentence was handed down, Espada offered no signs of remorse.