Albany, NY (AP) — Former New York State Legislature Chairman Sheldon Silver died in federal prison for 20 years before being convicted of corruption. He was 77 years old.
Silver died on Monday, and someone familiar with the matter told The Associated Press. The person was unable to discuss the issue publicly and spoke to AP on condition of anonymity.
A Manhattan Democrat who told the judge that he prayed that he would not die in prison had been sentenced to more than six years in federal prison.
He was convicted by the state government of using his influence to benefit real estate developers.
Proponents of Silver say he has recently been injured and is susceptible to COVID-19. He was fired for several days in May before federal officials denied his house arrest.
Silver’s conviction ended his nearly 40-year career in Congress. He first won the seat on behalf of Manhattan’s Lower East Side in 1976. He cut out a modest figure in the hall of the State Capitol and carefully parsed the comments in a baritone tweet, but he was the perfect practitioner of Albany’s inside game.
He was elected Speaker of Parliament in 1994. This is a strong position on an equal footing with the Governor and the leaders of the State Senate in making important decisions regarding the annual budget and major laws.
Overall, Silver was a speaker during the tenure of five New York Governor, from Mario Matthew Cuomo to Andrew Cuomo.
He became known as a mysterious and stubborn negotiator and was sometimes called a “doctor” because he blocked the proposal. number. “Part of his sabotage reputation is related to being the only Democrat in the negotiating table during the three terms of Republican Governor George Pataki, during which the GOP was also in the State Senate. It dominated, but not all.
He helped former New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg discontinue his plan to set up a football stadium on the west side of Manhattan. And he was responsible for the collapse of Bloomberg’s plans to set congestion rates in Manhattan in 2008.
The mayor, who was indignant, issued a press release saying, “Take special cowardice” to prevent lawmakers from voting. Silver said he didn’t have a vote.
He survived his early tenure coup attempts and was good at trading horses to secure education funding, tenant rights laws, and other policies endorsed by the Democratic Party of Parliament. Orthodox Jewish Silver was known for observing the Sabbath, even between the end of the marathon negotiation and legislative sessions prior to the annual budget deadline.
Over time, he became a symbol of Albany’s highly malicious and opaque style of governance, and eventually became the target of federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors accused Silver of exchanging his influence for gold. In one example, Silver persuaded a doctor to refer a patient with asbestos cancer to his law firm, claiming that he could seek a multi-million dollar settlement from a personal injury proceeding. This is a secret arrangement that allows him to raise about $ 3 million in referral fees. In return, the prosecutor said he had directed hundreds of thousands of dollars in state grants to a research center run by doctors.
Silver’s lawyer claimed that his client had the right to accept payments for outside work.
His first 2015 conviction was abandoned by the Court of Appeals after a US Supreme Court decision that narrowed the definition of corruption. He was again convicted in a second trial in 2018, slightly adjusted to comply with the High Court’s decision.
However, the Court of Appeals eventually dismissed the conviction relating to asbestos cancer patients because of incorrect instructions to the jury. The prosecutor decided not to retry him on suspicion. In part of his conviction, the court found that he upheld a law that would benefit real estate developers who were introducing tax to the law firm that employs him.
After being arrested in January 2015, Silver abandoned his leadership position and lost his seat on his first conviction in November.
Silver has joined the long list of state legislators, including other top leaders convicted of crimes such as bribery, conspiracy, tax evasion, fraud, and extortion. Republican Senate leader Dean Skelos, one of the leaders he shared power with as a speaker, was convicted of blackmail, wire fraud, and bribery in a case that passed court almost at the same time as Silver’s case. ..
Silver begged for mercy in a letter to the judge before the decision.
“I hope I won’t die in prison,” Silver wrote.
Silver was the youngest of four children of Russian immigrants. His father ran a wholesale hardware store. As an adult, he and his wife had four children and lived in a low Manhattan apartment from his first home.
He holds a bachelor’s degree from Yeshiva University and a law degree from Brooklyn Law School.
___
Balsamo reported from Washington.
Sheldon Silver, New York power broker sent to jail and died at age 77 | WGN Radio 720
Source link Sheldon Silver, New York power broker sent to jail and died at age 77 | WGN Radio 720
The post Sheldon Silver, New York power broker sent to jail and died at age 77 | WGN Radio 720 appeared first on Illinois News Today.
No comments:
Post a Comment