Former Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith has been found guilty of scheming to bribe Republican party leaders so he could run on the GOP line in a New York City mayoral race, making him the latest ex-Albany leader to be convicted of corruption.
A federal jury convicted Smith Thursday of all four charges, including bribery conspiracy, wire fraud, use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion.
Smith and former councilman Dan Halloran were arrested in April 2013 on conspiracy, wire fraud and extortion charges after the pair allegedly plotted to get Smith onto the ballot by paying off GOP county chairmen. Because he's a Democrat, Smith would have needed three leaders' permission.
The indictment alleged two Republican Party leaders, including Smith's co-defendant, former Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone, accepted tens of thousands of dollars in exchange for helping get Smith on the ballot.
Tabone was convicted Thursday of bribery and witness tampering, among other crimes.
A first trial for Smith ended in a mistrial in June 2014 because of conflicts with jurors' schedules.
The jurors had only committed to stay with the case through late June and, because of their schedules, could not commit for another month, the judge said.
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Smith is the latest line in Albany's corrupt legacy. Sheldon Silver, speaker of the State Assembly for more than two decades, was arrested late last month on federal corruption charges. He has said he will be vindicated. Last week, NBC 4 New York reported federal investigators are looking into state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos' sources of income in connection with a broader corruption probe.
In a statement, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said the spate of convictions of high-profile current and former politicians shows that New York has become the "show me the money" state.
"It should not be asking too much to expect public officials at least to obey the law," Bharara said. "This office will continue the vigorous prosecution of political corruption until every public official understands that violating the public trust will likely land you in prison."
