Ex-NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver indicted on 3 charges

[alp227]

Source: AP

NEW YORK (AP) —Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was indicted Thursday on three charges after his arrest last month in a federal bribery case.

The indictment was returned in Manhattan federal court, where he appeared last month briefly when he was freed on bail just a day after sharing the stage with Gov. Andrew Cuomo during his State of the State address. The charges are honest services mail fraud, honest services wire fraud and extortion under the color of his official duties.

"Our client is not guilty. We can now begin to fight for his total vindication. We intend to do that fighting where it should be done —in court," Silver's lawyers, Joel Cohen and Steve Molo, said in a statement. Silver has said he is confident he will be vindicated.

Silver's arrest came after he had led the Assembly for over 20 years, becoming one of the most powerful and savvy figures in New York state politics.

Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/da43db8c94c24c7e827a658131a685dd/ex-ny-assembly-speaker-sheldon-silver-indicted-3-charges

[Lurks Often]

1. "Our client is not guilty" & "Silver has said he is confident he will be vindicated"

They always say that.

If the FBI has a strong case, I wonder if Silver will toss someone under the bus in exchange for a plea deal that either keeps him out of prison or gets him a short prison sentence.

[ABCin2014]

2. Here's hoping its Governor Cuomo

That he throws under the bus.

Then he can go down in history as being a public servant who did something useful for the State rather than just a(nother) corrupt Pol. Maybe it can be two men in a cell rather than three in a room.