Posted February 5, 2015 9:05 PM ET; Last updated July 2, 2015 9:03 PM ET
Malcolm Smith leaving court on Thursday.
Photo: Robert Kalfus
[From article]
A federal judge on Wednesday sentenced Malcolm Smith to seven years in prison, saying the former state Senate majority leader corrupted the political process by trying to buy his way onto the ballot in a crooked bid to become mayor of New York City.
No amount of good deeds, not Smith’s community advocacy, church leadership or political authority, were enough to offset his attempts to pollute the process, said Judge Kenneth Karas, who chided the once-powerful Smith for violating the public’s trust.
Summing it up in blunt terms, Karas said, “If Mr. Smith had just said no to the scoundrel, which would have been so easy — ‘This is crazy, I’m not going to buy my way, even if I think I’m going to be the best mayor in the history of New York City, I’m not going to do it, I’m going to respect the process’ — then we wouldn’t be here.”
[. . .]
Dozens of New York politicians have faced legal or ethics charges since 2000, including John Sampson, who replaced Smith as the Senate’s Democratic leader and who is currently on trial in Brooklyn federal court for alleged obstruction of justice.
Smith, 58, chose not to address the court and had no visible reaction when he heard the sentence.
But in a letter to the judge, he insisted that his only motivation was to achieve his dream of becoming mayor.
[. . .]
Smith, who represented southeast Queens in the state Senate, was done in when he unknowingly turned to Moses Stern — a crooked Rockland County developer who was, in fact, a cooperating federal witness — as well as another man Smith thought was a developer but who was actually an undercover federal agent. He pushed both for money and help trying to fix the election.
In turn, Smith promised them $500,000 in transportation funds for a project in Spring Valley.
[. . .]
Karas also sentenced Tabone, a former Queens Republican Party vice chair who was convicted of receiving bribes on Smith’s behalf, to 3¹/₂ years in prison. Tabone was also ordered to forfeit the $25,000 he received in bribes.
In order get on the GOP line, Smith needed the support of at least three of the five borough Republican committees, including Tabone’s.
In February, a White Plains federal jury took just 90 minutes to find Smith and Tabone guilty on the bribery charges. Tabone was also convicted of witness tampering.
http://nypost.com/2015/07/01/malcolm-smith-sentenced-to-7-years-in-prison/
Malcolm Smith sentenced to 7 years in prison
By
Priscilla DeGregory and
Leonard Greene
New York Post
July 1, 2015 | 11:23am
* * *
[From article]
Disgraced former state Sen. Malcolm Smith is facing up to 45 years behind bars after being convicted Thursday in a failed $200,000 bribery scheme to fix the Republican line in the 2013 mayoral election.
A White Plains federal jury took a little over two hours deliberating before convicting Smith and an accomplice, former Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone, on bribery charges.
To get on the GOP line, Smith — once one of the state’s top Democrats — needed the support of at least three of the five borough Republican committees. Queens was secured through Tabone and The Bronx through former Bronx GOP Chairman Joseph “Jay” Savino. He never got the third vote.
Smith, the feds say, turned to Moses Stern — a crooked Rockland County developer-turned-federal witness — and an undercover federal agent for money and help pulling off the botched scheme. In turn, Smith allegedly promised them $500,000 in transportation funds for a project in Spring Valley, NY.
http://nypost.com/2015/02/05/malcolm-smith-guilty-of-trying-to-rig-nyc-mayors-race/
Malcolm Smith guilty of trying to rig NYC mayor’s race
By
Rich Calder
New York Post
February 5, 2015 | 12:32pm
