Disgraced former New York state speaker Sheldon Silver sentenced to 12 years in prison

Silver's downfall part of top prosecutor's bid to end Albany's long culture of corruption

Sheldon Silver, former State Assembly speaker, who was sentenced to 12 years AP

For two decades he was one of the most powerful politicians in the state of New York but today Sheldon Silver, 72, who was convicted last year on extortion and money laundering charges, is nothing more than prison inmate; no fancy title to his name, just a long number.

Silver was sentenced by District Judge Valerie Caproni late on Tuesday to twelve years behind bars for criminally enriching himself while he represented the Lower East Side of Manhattan at the legislature in Albany, the capital of the state, and served as State Assembly Speaker from 1994 to 2015. Silver was also ordered to pay $5.1 million.

The harsh sentence more or less met the requests of the prosecution who had stressed the gravity of the defendant’s crimes and reflected the reluctance of the court to listen either to appeals for leniency or to the case made by the defence that Silver had merely followed a long-honoured culture of politicians lining their pockets in Albany, at the expense of taxpayers.

“I let down my family my colleagues and my constituents,” Silver, who was sometimes known as ‘The Sphinx’ because of his inscrutable manner, said in brief remarks to the judge before sentencing. “I am truly, truly, truly, sorry for that.“

While his fall from grace has been the most spectacular, Silver is only one among an expanding crew of New York state representatives caught trading their office for favours or financial gain. More than thirty elected members of the Assembly have been forced from office since 2000 because of criminal or ethical lapses according to Citizens Union, an ethics watchdog.

As if to underscore how pervasive the problem has become in the Empire State, Silver’s principle counterpart, former majority leader Dean Skelos, a Republican, was also found guilty of corruption a mere ten days after his conviction last December.

Together, Silver, who is a Democrat, and Skelos were members of the so-called “three men in a room” who essentially controlled the purse strings of New York, decreeing where money flowed and where it didn’t. The other member of that exclusive circle, of course, is the Governor of New York, currently Andrew Cuomo, also a Democrat, now in his second term.

A legal cloud also hovers over Mr Cuomo’s office with a federal investigation under way into whether a former top aide and close friend, Joseph Percoco, inappropriately took pay from an outside development company involved with a state-funded revitalisation project in Buffalo while at the same time working for the campaign to re-elect Mr Cuomo in 2014.

The convictions of Silver and of Skelos were signal victories for Preet Bharara, the US Attorney for Manhattan, who made investigating corruption in Albany a priority upon taking office in 2009. He once called Albany, which sits 150 miles north of New York City, a “cauldron of corruption”.

“The corruption in the State Legislature in Albany has not been episodic,” Mr. Bharara told the New York Times. “It’s been systemic, and if nothing else, the trials revealed that there’s a deep culture problem, and a matter-of-factness about how at least these two defendants, who’ve now been found guilty, went about their daily corrupt business with barely a thought about it.”

Silver was found guilty on fraud, extortion and money laundering charges, for schemes that for instance involved him directing state largesse to a cancer researcher in return for him sending his patients to Silver’s law firm in New York City. He also used his office to help property developers. In all, prosecutors said, he pocketed $4 million in criminal earnings.

Skelos, 67, was found guilty of bribery, extortion and conspiracy charges for using his office to pressure companies to give money and a job to his son, Adam Skelos, who was also convicted.

Ahead of his sentencing, Silver penned a letter of contrition to the court, appealing for leniency. “I failed the people of New York. There is no question about it,“ he wrote. ”What I have done has hurt the Assembly, and New York, and my constituents terribly, and I regret that more than I can possibly express.“ He added: ”Because of me, the government has been ridiculed. I let my peers down, I let the people of the state down, and I let down my constituents — the people of lower Manhattan that I live among and fought for. They deserve better.“