Former State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver Found Guilty of Corruption

He resigned as Assembly Speaker in February.

The 71-year-old Democrat was accused of amassing more than $3m in referral fees from personal injury claims and millions more from real estate developers and shady investments.

Even in a state capital where more than 30 lawmakers have left office facing criminal charges or allegations of ethical misconduct since 2000, the case against Silver was an extraordinary turn.

Susan Watts/New York Daily News The conviction against Silver cements U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s reputation as the one man in New York willing to challenge the corruption in Albany.

Despite a guilty verdict in his federal corruption trial, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver today stuck with his long-standing mantra: he will be vindicated. He faces the possibility of decades in prison. His conviction triggers his automatic expulsion from the Legislature, where he has served since 1977. The Assembly Minority Leader, Brian M. Kolb, said, “The jury has spoken – and quite loudly”. The verdict may change how state lawmakers operate. This is no time for piece-meal ethics reform. Skelos and his son are charged with multiple counts of conspiracy, bribery and extortion for allegedly getting Glenwood to direct business to the younger Skelos.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Goldstein told jurors to reject the defense contention that Silver was just practicing politics as usual. “He did not sell his office”, Molo said.

Veteran Albany lobbyist Brian Meara also testified that he set up a meeting between Silver and an exec at the Glenwood Management development company, which hired another law firm with ties to Silver to handle its lucrative property-tax litigation. In exchange, the doctor referred clients to a law firm that shared its fees with Silver.

Their discussions were briefly halted again Monday morning, when another juror asked to quit because he’d just learned his boss knows Silver. Two hours after the jury started deliberating the case, a juror sent a letter to the judge complaining about how miserable the whole thing was making them: “I am wondering if there is anyway I can be excused from this case, because I have a different opinion/view so far in this case and it is making me feel very, very uncomfortable”.

The charges followed an investigation by an anti-corruption commission, which began in 2013. The complaint against him said he has earned more than $6 million in income from the two firms since 2002.