Six New York politicians and political operatives have been charged with attempting to influence state politics through illegal means, including bribes, land swapping, and inside deals. The individuals include a state senator, a GOP chairman, and the Spring Valley Mayor, according to the criminal complaint filed earlier today.
Senator Malcolm Smith, a Democrat from Queens, has been accused of organizing bribes in an attempt to get on to the Republican ticket for the 2013 New York City mayoral race. New York City Councilman Dan Halloran, Bronx GOP Chairman Joseph Savino, Queens GOP Chairman Vincent Tabone, Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin and Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret have also been charged in the plot.
The six were reportedly involved in three bribery schemes uncovered by an undercover FBI investigation. According to FBI information, Smith had offered Tabone and Savino tens of thousands of dollars for their support, in order to receive the approval of three New York City GOP leaders necessary to run on the ticket. Smith also purportedly paid Halloran $20,500 to set up the meetings, with a wiretap revealing that Smith wanted to "close the deal" with the GOP leaders.
"Today's charges demonstrate, once again, that a show-me-the-money culture seems to pervade every level of New York government," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated. "The complaint describes an unappetizing smorgasbord of graft and greed involving six officials who together built a corridor of corruption stretching from Queens and the Bronx to Rockland County and all the way up to Albany itself."
Senator Smith was the first African American majority leader of the state Senate, and is now a key member of the coalition of Republicans and Democrats that control the chamber. In a statement, spokesman Todd Shapiro wrote that Smith is innocent, and stated that he "will be vindicated when the all the facts in the case are revealed."
[via USA Today]
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