Former state Sen. Malcolm Smith has been convicted of scheming to bribe his way onto the ballot in the 2013 New York City mayoral election.
A federal jury found Smith guilty on Thursday of all four charges, including bribery conspiracy, wire fraud, use of interstate facilities to commit bribery and extortion.
A codefendant, former Queens Republican Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone was also convicted of four charges. They are bribery conspiracy, wire fraud, use of interstate facilities to commit bribery, and witness tampering.
Here is a statement from U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara:
“As the jury unanimously found, the give-and-take of the political process should not be the giving and taking of bribes, which is what Malcolm Smith and Vincent Tabone tried to make it. Smith gave, and Tabone took, a $25,000 cash bribe to permit Smith to run for New York City Mayor as a Republican. Smith and Tabone were not alone in this scheme – Smith also bribed Daniel Halloran, another Republican Party official. And sadly, this was just one of many pockets of corruption this Office has uncovered in New York, which has become the ‘show me the money’ state. It should not be asking too much to expect public officials at least to obey the law. This Office will continue the vigorous prosecution of political corruption until every public official understands that violating the public trust will likely land you in prison.”
