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Ex-NY Senator Espada Found Guilty of Embezzlement

Former New York State Senator Pedro Espada Jr. has been found guilty of embezzlement charges. WAMC’s Dave Lucas has more…

A jury delivered the partial verdict Monday in federal court in Brooklyn.  It was the 11th day of often tumultuous deliberations. The jury is still deliberating on charges against Espada's son and on four remaining counts against him.

Espada and his son were accused of looting $500,000 dollars from a health care network in the Bronx that was operated with state grants. Prosecutors said they lived a lavish lifestyle off the Soundview network while the clinics languished in poverty.

Lawyers for Espada and his son had argued their clients did nothing wrong — that it was their company and they were allowed to draw a salary. Espada was convicted on four counts of embezzlement.

Dave Lucas, WAMC News. 

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved. 

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.