Sheldon Silver Found Guilty Again
Sheldon Silver Image by getty images
Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was found guilty of corruption charges on Friday by a jury in Manhattan federal court after an appeals court threw out an earlier conviction.
Silver, 74, was charged with directing state money to a prominent cancer researcher and supporting a real estate developer’s interests on rent legislation in exchange for about $4 million in bribes and kickbacks.
Silver was found guilty of all seven counts against him, including honest services fraud and extortion. The jury handed down its verdict at the end of its first full day of deliberations.
Silver was convicted for the first time in November 2015. In May 2016, Caproni sentenced him to 12 years in prison.
Last July, however, a New York federal appeals court threw out the conviction. The court ruled that the jury had received improper instructions in light of the Supreme Court’s 2016 decision overturning the corruption conviction of former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell.
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
