Huntley’s Case Only the Latest Albany Scandal

State Sen. Shirley Huntley’s arrest Monday for allegedly misusing state grants to fund a nonprofit is one of a number of recent high profile misconduct cases involving New York state legislators.

In June, former state Sen. Nicholas Spano was sentenced in federal court to a year and a day in prison for cheating on his income taxes, after he admitted to underpaying by $53,000.

In May, former state Sen. Pedro Espada was convicted of misusing public funds meant to help poor patients at several Bronx health clinics he controlled. Espada is also being accused of failing to pay taxes on the money he stole from the clinics. He will go to trial for tax evasion in November.

Also in May, former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars meant for community services, when he was a city councilman. He is scheduled to be sentenced in September. In 2010, Monserrate was expelled from the state senate after he was convicted for misdemeanor assault against his girlfriend.

In April, former state Sen. Carl Kruger, the once chairman of the state’s powerful Senate Finance Committee, was sentenced to seven years in prison after pleading guilty to accepting nearly half a million dollars in bribes.

In February, just two months after being acquitted on federal corruption charges, state Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. was indicted on federal bribery and extortion charges for allegedly soliciting money to help pay his legal bills from his previous case. If convicted he could face a maximum of 30 years in prison. Boyland is also under investigation for allegedly claiming taxpayer reimbursement of fake expenses.

In April, 2011, former state assemblyman and state comptroller Alan Hevesi was sentenced to four years in prison for his role in influence peddling at the state’s massive pension fund. In 2006 Hevesi pleaded guilty in a separate misconduct scandal, for giving preferential treatment to a pension fund manager in exchange for gifts.

For more misconduct cases involving state legislatures dating back to the 1970s click here.