Discussion: Ex-NY Assembly Speaker Gets 7 Years In Prison After Second Corruption Trial

“Drizzle, Drazzle, Drozzle, Drome; time for this one to come home.”
— Mr. Wizard

Silver said he was filled with shame and feared he would die in prison.

You will, Sheldon. You will.

Bon voyage!

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With luck, he will, indeed, die in prison, just as Trump will.

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Mercy, please! I was a young kid, barely over 30. It was just a youthful impulse to engage in corruption for decades. If you let me out, I can help an old lady cross the street.

He’s an effing parasite who spent his years in office helping rich parasites get richer.

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Sheldon Silver, the former New York Assembly speaker who brokered legislative deals for two decades before corruption charges abruptly ended his career, was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison.

Sheldon didn’t even have a sterling reputation to tarnish.

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“Sheldn.” —Myrna Turner (and her brother and sister, Werner Turner and Verna Turner, respectively)

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Pity. It comes with the territory if you are corrupt.

But he was pretty tight in there with Cuomo…

Democratic voters and liberals are more than willing to seek justice when a Democrat commits crimes; it’s a huge distinction from republicans who NEVER admit one of their elected officials is guilty of anything. Just look at the brazen lawless corruption that permeates Trump’s administration, and not a single one of his base will ever admit that any crimes have been committed. Even if Trump is indicted on hard evidence, it won’t matter to his vicious base. I’m glad that a corrupt Democrat got caught and convicted…it’s too bad for the constituents, but he gets no pass from me just because I’m liberal.

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In the spirit of bipartisanship, may we plese, please have Trump as his cellmate/

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Someone needs to come up with a rhyming jingle to the effect that if you can’t afford to die in prison, don’t commit crimes in your late middle age…or old age…and then blast it, (from the same huge speakers our armed forces used to blast “I Fought The Law and the Law Won” at the Vatican Embassy in Panama in December, 1989 when General Manuel Noriega took refuge there for 10 days following the US Invasion) at Donald Trump’s White House, and at whatever Trump Golf Club he happens to be staying at.

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Nobody said officials of the Democratic Party are saints. Corruption must be rooted out everywhere it exists.

The difference is the Democratic Party supports educating all, voting by all, and majority rule.

That principle will always win.

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NY Democratic politics are too awful to be believed. We have a new generation of idealistic incorruptibles coming through–stand by for the primaries on Sept 13–and I fervently hope the blue wave will sweep them into office. Cuomo, in particular, is a total nightmare.

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Skelos and Silver should share a cell and a jar of vaseline. Have fun a holes!!

“I pray I will not die in prison,” Silver wrote, saying he was “broken-hearted” that he damaged the trust people have in government.

A little late for that, bucko. Maybe you should have thought of that 20 years ago.

@gusfabriani: this motherfucker collaborated for years with Skelos and Joe Bruno in the Senate to effectively give control of the state legislative agenda to the Republicans. Or really, to do what made the two leaders the most profit. He gets zero sympathy from me.

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I sure hope there IS some Buddhist multi-life continuum, because Dems and generally ‘good’ people seem to be losing big time to those in our midst that serve nothing but their own evil impulses.

I sure hope you’re correct, unfortunately we are about to find out…

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With all due respect the next generation will have the same temptations as the old.If they are in power for a long time. There will be deals to be made, votes to be traded and money to moved all over the state for pet projects. I an not cynical about politics but have lived long enough to know that young and old, Democratic or Republican nothing moves in a straight line. A small push in the right direction is maybe not so bad but expecting big change because some new people are elected is unlikely.

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Yes, power corrupts. Yes, individuals of merit cannot change the system by themselves. Yes, Utopia is still not within reach. But there’s a basic and very consequential difference between politicians who are merely vain and power-hungry (as almost all are) and those who view the field as a career in self-enrichment. NY leads the country in the latter, and Trump is only the most recent example of a class of grifters who specifically target the NY political arena and thrive in it. Here’s a partial list with various things in bold. I hope you’ll agree that this is mind-bogglingly bad, for Democrats especially, and that a total do-over is required. (And I’m not even going to get started on those currently investigation, or under a cloud, or brazenly making policy for the benefit of corporate donors)>

Speaker of the New York State Assembly Sheldon Silver (D) convicted of corruption. (2018)
Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate Tom Libous ÂŽ was convicted of lying to FBI. (2015)
Minority Leader of the State Senate John L. Sampson (D) was convicted of obstructing justice and making false statement. (2015)
Majority Leader of the State Senate Malcolm Smith (D) was found guilty in federal court of conspiracy, wire fraud, bribery and extortion for trying to bribe a Republican Party official to let him onto the Republican ballot in the 2013 New York City mayoral race. (2014)
State Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D) sentenced to a year in jail for entering into a sham marriage in order to gain U.S. citizenship. (2014)
State Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. (D) convicted of bribery (2014)
State Assemblyman Eric Stevenson (D) found guilty of bribery, conspiracy and other related charges. (2014)
State Assemblyman Nelson Castro (D) convicted of perjury (2013)
State Senator Shirley Huntley (D) convicted of mail fraud. She was sentenced to one year and a day in prison. (2013)
Majority Leader of the State Senate Pedro Espada Jr. (D) On May 14, 2012, a federal jury found Espada guilty of embezzling money from federally funded healthcare clinics, after 11 days of deliberation he was sentenced to five years in prison. (2012)
State Senator Vincent Leibell ÂŽ found guilty of felony bribery, tax evasion, and obstruction of justice charges related to $43,000 in cash kickbacks he took from 2003 to 2006. (2012)
State Senator Nicholas Spano ÂŽ, Spano pleaded guilty to a single count of tax evasion. He was sentenced to 12 to 18 months in federal prison. (2012)
New York State Comptroller Alan Hevesi (D), was convicted on charges surrounding a “pay to play” scheme regarding the New York State Pension Fund, and was sentenced to 1–4 years. (2011)
State Senator Carl Kruger (D) resigned his seat and pleaded guilty to charges of corruption and bribery. (2011)
State Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. (D) was convicted of fraud and embezzling $400,000 from the West Bronx Neighborhood Association Inc. and was sentenced to seven years in federal prison (2010)
State Health Commissioner Antonia Novello ÂŽ pleaded guilty to depriving the taxpayers of $48,000 by making her staff do personal chores for her, such as taking her shopping and picking up her dry cleaning. Her plea deal called for 250 hours of community service at an Albany health clinic, $22,500 in restitution and a $5,000 fine. (2009)

New York City Council member Ruben Wills (D) convicted of fraud. (2017)
New York City Council member Dan Halloran ÂŽ convicted of taking bribes and orchestrating payoffs. (2014)
New York City Council member Larry Seabrook (D) On February 9, 2010, a federal grand jury indicted Seabrook on 13 counts of money laundering, extortion, and fraud. Seabrook was convicted on 9 charges (2012).
President of the New York City Council Andrew Stein (D) was convicted of tax evasion regarding a Ponzi scheme (2010).

Good list. This ny’er can go back even longer. The constitution needs adjustment but the NYS unions defeated the vote with scare tactics. Let’s hope for better. SS going down is some justice. Skellos as well but the municipal unions have too much say. I write that as a union member for forty years.