Sheldon Silver Corruption Case: New York State Assembly Speaker Guilty of

Although Silver was one of 213 state lawmakers, his now-former colleagues worry in that his conviction will cast a shadow over the Legislature he helped direct as speaker for 21 years of time of time.

With the conviction, Silver automatically loses his Assembly seat.

The 53-year-old from Mount Vernon initially asked to be removed from the case because she said fellow jurors were pressuring her and admitted she thought Silver seemed “humble and unassuming”.

“We will continue to work to root out corruption and demand more of elected officials when it comes to ethical conduct”, Heastie said.

Thirty state lawmakers have left office because of criminal charges or allegations of misconduct since 2000. Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, R-Nassau County, is also on trial, accused of using his influence to enrich his son. But so far, lawmakers have balked at significant reforms, such as term limits, restrictions on legislators’ outside income, tighter campaign finance limits and tougher enforcement of ethics rules.

“The bell could not be ringing louder for real reform in Albany than it is right now”, said Assemblyman Todd Kaminsky, a former corruption prosecutor now in his first term. The New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics needs more power.

The prosecution was a marquee case in Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s quest to clean up what he has called Albany’s “cauldron of corruption”. In one instance, Silver collected a salary from law firm Weitz & Luxenberg through a scheme that involved cancer research.

Following the verdict, Silver’s attorney Steven F. Molo said the defense was “obviously disappointed in the verdict, and we intend to file vigorous post-trial motions seeking to set it aside”, The New York Times reported.

But when she saw that $700,000 in referral fees that Silver received from the law firms of developers pushing for favorable legislation was hidden on his financial disclosure form, she changed her mind and voted to convict Silver. “It’s a bad standard, it’s a pretty worthless standard and virtually no defendants who are convicted get off on appeals under that standard”, he said. “So I had my doubts at that point”.