Ex-NY Senate leader gets 5 years in prison for corruption
NEW YORK – A once-powerful New York politician convicted of using his position as Senate majority leader to help his son extort hundreds of thousands of dollars was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison after each asked for mercy for the other.
Former Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son, Adam, were convicted last year of extortion, conspiracy and bribery.
U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood gave the son 6 1/2 years in prison, saying he deserved more time because of his thuggish behavior during the scheme to force big companies to give him consulting and other work.
The judge imposed terms that were significantly lower than ones sought by prosecutors, noting that the dollar value in the case “pales in comparison” to that of former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was sentenced this month to 12 years in his $5 million bribery case.
But Wood told the 68-year-old Skelos: “The effect of your crime has much in common with him. … You have caused immeasurable damage to New Yorkers’ confidence in the integrity of government.”
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the sentences “show there is zero tolerance for those who use public service for private gain.”
At trial, the government had accused the elder Skelos, a Long Island Republican, of strong-arming three companies with a stake in state legislation into giving his son about $300,000 through consulting work, a no-show job and a payment of $20,000. The scheme unraveled when investigators began recording phone calls between the father and son.
On one tape, jurors heard Adam Skelos insulting a supervisor on the no-show job by saying, “Guys like you aren’t fit to shine my shoes” and threatening to “smash in” his face.
In another, the senator coached his son about the need for discretion amid the state capital’s ongoing corruption scandal, saying, “Right now we’re in dangerous times, Adam.”
The dynamics of the father-son relationship took center stage at the sentencing hearing Thursday.
“It is heartbreaking to stand before you,” Dean Skelos said. “Somewhere along the way my judgment became clouded.”
He added: “I ask you to show mercy to Adam. … He’s a young man with two little autistic boys who need their father.”
Dean Skelos was also fined $500,000, and both men were ordered to forfeit a combined $334,000.
Outside the courthouse after sentencing, a nephew of Dean Skelos was arrested on an assault charge. Video appeared to show him grabbing the wrist of a Daily News reporter and throwing her cellphone into the street.