Ex-NY Sen. Bruno Wants Fraud Charges Dismissed
The 83-year-old was convicted in 2009 of honest services fraud
Saturday, Oct 6, 2012 | Updated 8:59 AM EDT
AP
Former New York Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno
Former New York Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno has asked a federal judge to dismiss two fraud charges filed after his original conviction in the case was overturned.
The 83-year-old was convicted in 2009 of honest services fraud. Prosecutors said he used his influence as a legislator to make money in a sideline consulting business.
But an appeals court voided the convictions last year, citing a Supreme Court decision in another case that prosecutors must show direct bribes or kickbacks.
Bruno's lawyer now says prosecutors missed a deadline for filing new charges. Attorney William Dreyer also says the indictment ``impermissibly'' broadens the scope of the original charges and presents a bribery theory prosecutors abandoned at Bruno's first trial.
Trial is scheduled for February.
