NEW YORK – Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced Monday to 6.5 years in prison in the corruption case that removed him from power when a judge said he hoped to “send a message to Albany.” .
United States District Judge Valerie E. Caproni sentenced Silver, 76, for the third time, acknowledging that a man who was once one of the three most powerful state officials came closer than ever to voice his repentance.
But she said it was unclear if “he really understands it,” and she shaved just six months from the seven-year prison sentence he announced in 2018, ignoring claims by Silver’s defense attorney that he could die if he contracts COVID- 19 in prison. She also fined him $ 1 million.
“This was outright corruption,” said Caproni.
He said he expected the sentence to be “long enough to send a message to Albany,” although he added that the 17 to 22 years in prison required by federal sentencing guidelines were “draconian.” Caproni said Silver must appear in prison on August 26.
She described how Silver had changed his statements to her in each sentence, going from an insistence that he did no harm in his first moment to a “self-pity” approach in the second and finally to acknowledging his wrongful conduct this year.
Before Caproni announced the sentence, Silver stood up and repeated parts of a handwritten letter he had written to the judge, though not the part where he told him to forgive him for a sentence that could lead to his death in prison. .
He said he had done many good things for decades as his power grew in state government, where he spent 21 years as a speaker for the Assembly.
“I destroyed that legacy that I built for 35 years,” he said, blaming his downfall on “inappropriate, selfish, and ethically indefensible” behavior that stemmed from a sense of entitlement.
“I’m so sorry,” he said.
Last week Caproni denied Silver’s request to be sentenced remotely for the coronavirus. The masked bystanders were kept separate in a large courtroom they entered only after undergoing a temperature check and answering COVID-related questions at the courthouse entrance.
Assistant United States Attorney Daniel Richenthal urged Caproni to impose the same seven-year sentence that she imposed for bribery and extortion crimes before a federal appeals court ordered a new sentence after dismissing three charges.
Silver was expelled as a speaker in 2015 and sentenced later that year, but appeals so far have kept him out of jail. His original conviction was overturned on appeal, but Silver was re-sentenced in 2018.
In court documents, Silver’s attorneys had asked for leniency, saying Silver was an obese man in his 70s with a history of cancer, chronic kidney disease and other health problems that make him one of those most at risk of die for COVID-19.
However, Caproni said the death rate of the population outside the prison was close to the death rate inside, and it seemed that the prisons were improving to adapt to the threat of the disease.
“I also don’t want Mr. Silver to die in prison,” he said.
In the part of the case that survived the appeal process, Silver was convicted in a scheme involving favors and business negotiated between two real estate developers and a law firm. Silver supported the legislation that benefited developers. The developers then referred certain tax deals to a law firm that paid silver fees.
