New York taxpayers may pay more than $700,000 to cover the legal bills of a former state lawmaker whose conviction on charges of lying to the FBI was vacated after his death.
Former Republican Sen. Tom Libous was convicted in 2015 of lying about what prosecutors said was a scheme to funnel money from a lobbyist to his son. The conviction was overturned by an appeals court last year, after Libous died of cancer. The court also ordered $50,000 in fines be returned to his estate.
The Binghamton Press & Sun Bulletin reports that under New York law the state is required to pay the legal bills of government workers or lawmakers who beat criminal charges related to their official duties.
Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.
