Loporto suit alleging conspiracy dismissed
Similar case made by Mcdonough on to Supreme Court
His former co-defendant’s case will go before the highest court in the land on a question of national significance. But former Rensselaer city councilman Michael Loporto will not be joining him.
The former politician’s lawsuit over accusations of conspiracy and civil rights violations was dismissed with prejudice in November.
More than six years ago, Loporto and current Rensselaer County Democratic Election Commissioner Edward Mcdonough were both tried twice for their alleged roles in a 2009 election fraud case for city council seats.
In the first trial, the two men were tried together, and it ended in a mistrial. The second time, special prosecutor Trey Smith tried them separately and Loporto was acquitted in July 2012 of 22 counts of second-degree criminal possession of a forged instrument.
Loporto, who did not respond to a request for comment on Tuesday, filed an $80 million lawsuit nearly three years later in July 2015. Mcdonough followed, filing an $8 million lawsuit in December 2015.
The ballot fraud case arose from an investigation into allegations that Democrats attempted to gain control of the 2009 Working Families Party primary vote by forging absentee ballots. The case implicated four then-city councilmen, the city council president, the city clerk as well as two political operatives in a legal saga that continued for three years.
Four of the men pleaded guilty and received varying sentences. Two other men received immunity for agreeing to testify for the prosecution.
Both Loporto and Mcdonough alleged they had been set up as scapegoats when the plot was uncovered. Loporto filed civil suits against the special prosecutor, a state police investigator, Rensselaer County, as well as defendants who testified against him, alleging his federal civil rights had been denied and malicious prosecution.
On Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear an argument connected to Mcdonough’s case related to the statute of limitations for the type of lawsuit he and Loporto filed. The question would possibly create a uniform rule for federal district courts to use.
Loporto’s case did not get nearly as far because he was forced to repeatedly hire new lawyers and had various claims dismissed.
U.S. District Judge Lawrence Kahn in Albany found that most of Loporto’s claims were unfounded or that the defendants he was suing had constitutional protections.
Loporto also twice lost his lawyer in the case. His first layer, Paul F. Dwyer, had to withdraw from the case in August 2016 when it was discovered that he worked at the same firm as one of the defendants’ attorneys.
Loporto hired former Congressman John Sweeney in January 2017. Sweeney was then forced to drop out when he was hired by the Rensselaer County Industrial Development Agency in August 2018.
The defendants made various motions to dismiss after settlement talks fell apart. Judge Kahn granted them on Sept. 24, 2018 while giving Loporto 45 days to find a new attorney and file paperwork on narrower grounds to move forward with his lawsuit.
But nothing was ever filed and the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice.