I knew when this guy stepped down, that this was coming.
Corruption Indictment for Ex-Senate Leader Bruno
By DANNY HAKIM and MIKE McINTIRE
ALBANY — Joseph L. Bruno, the former State Senate majority leader, was indicted on Friday on charges that he reaped millions of dollars from companies seeking business from the state or from labor unions, capping a long-running investigation into one of New York’s most powerful political figures.
Federal prosecutors scheduled a press conference for 2:30 p.m. in Albany to announce the eight-count indictment, which is expected to charge Mr. Bruno under an anti-corruption law making it a crime to deprive citizens of honest services from their elected officials. Mr. Bruno is accused of collecting more than $3 million over a 13-year period, beginning in 1993, from a handful of businessmen seeking state contracts and grants, as well as contracts to manage pension fund investments for at least 16 labor unions.
Mr. Bruno, who stepped down last summer, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Albany on Friday afternoon and was released without bail. At a press conference following his arraignment, Mr. Bruno, a former boxer, said angrily, “I’m going to fight this and I’m going to win.”
The Times Union of Albany reported Friday morning on its Web site that Andrew T. Baxter, the acting United States attorney, whose main office is in Syracuse, arrived at the federal courthouse in Albany in the morning “carrying two large briefcases and an easel.”
The three-year investigation, which became public in December 2006, has spanned a range of subjects, from Mr. Bruno’s overlapping business and political ties to a longtime friend, Jared E. Abbruzzese, to his purchases of real estate and thoroughbreds, to his relationship with a Connecticut investment company that was seeking to grow its pension business among New York labor unions.
Federal investigators have also scrutinized what work was done by Capital Business Consultants, a consulting business the senator ran out of his residence, and flights by Mr. Bruno on a private jet that were arranged by Mr. Abbruzzese.
During the investigation, federal grand jury subpoenas were issued to business executives, Senate staff members, thoroughbred owners, labor leaders and lobbyists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/nyregion/24bruno.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
Corruption Indictment for Ex-Senate Leader Bruno
By DANNY HAKIM and MIKE McINTIRE
ALBANY — Joseph L. Bruno, the former State Senate majority leader, was indicted on Friday on charges that he reaped millions of dollars from companies seeking business from the state or from labor unions, capping a long-running investigation into one of New York’s most powerful political figures.
Federal prosecutors scheduled a press conference for 2:30 p.m. in Albany to announce the eight-count indictment, which is expected to charge Mr. Bruno under an anti-corruption law making it a crime to deprive citizens of honest services from their elected officials. Mr. Bruno is accused of collecting more than $3 million over a 13-year period, beginning in 1993, from a handful of businessmen seeking state contracts and grants, as well as contracts to manage pension fund investments for at least 16 labor unions.
Mr. Bruno, who stepped down last summer, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment at the federal courthouse in Albany on Friday afternoon and was released without bail. At a press conference following his arraignment, Mr. Bruno, a former boxer, said angrily, “I’m going to fight this and I’m going to win.”
The Times Union of Albany reported Friday morning on its Web site that Andrew T. Baxter, the acting United States attorney, whose main office is in Syracuse, arrived at the federal courthouse in Albany in the morning “carrying two large briefcases and an easel.”
The three-year investigation, which became public in December 2006, has spanned a range of subjects, from Mr. Bruno’s overlapping business and political ties to a longtime friend, Jared E. Abbruzzese, to his purchases of real estate and thoroughbreds, to his relationship with a Connecticut investment company that was seeking to grow its pension business among New York labor unions.
Federal investigators have also scrutinized what work was done by Capital Business Consultants, a consulting business the senator ran out of his residence, and flights by Mr. Bruno on a private jet that were arranged by Mr. Abbruzzese.
During the investigation, federal grand jury subpoenas were issued to business executives, Senate staff members, thoroughbred owners, labor leaders and lobbyists.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/23/nyregion/24bruno.html?hp=&pagewanted=print
