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Joe Bruno To NYS: Pay My Lawyers

NYS Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno
NYS Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno

The former leader of New York's Senate, acquitted of federal fraud charges last week, plans to ask the state to pay his legal bills. 

Retired Sen. Joe Bruno says two trials and appeals cost him more than $4 million. He had been charged with taking bribes to direct state grants to a businessman.

State law authorizes reimbursement of "reasonable" attorneys' fees for officials accused of criminal wrongdoing while acting within the scope of their duties.

The 85-year-old Bruno tells an Albany media outlet that overly zealous federal prosecutors cost him six years of his life and they probably spent $25 million to $30 million.

A businessman testified he hired Bruno as a consultant and that the payments were NOT bribes.

Bruno, a Rensselaer County Republican, led the Senate majority for 14 years before stepping down in 2008.

© 2014 AP

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.
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