Prosecutor: Gov. Cuomo’s ex aide’s own words can convict him

A former top aide to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo proved his guilt by repeatedly quoting from the mob drama “The Sopranos” as he described bribes he was receiving from three businessmen, a prosecutor told jurors as closing arguments began Tuesday.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zhou told the Manhattan federal court jurors that they could use Joseph Percoco’s own words — and a word for bribes borrowed from the popular HBO show — to convict him.

Zhou said Percoco was repeatedly “begging, requesting, demanding ziti” in his discussions with an Albany lobbyist, demonstrating that he understood that roughly $320,000 he was receiving from the businessmen from 2012 to 2016 were bribes. All but $35,000 was salary for a job given to Percoco’s wife, the prosecutor said.

Zhou began his summation by reading from emails in which Percoco demanded “ziti.”

The prosecutor said Percoco “sold out his vast power. He sold out his influence and betrayed the people of New York.”

Percoco, 48, Cuomo’s longtime confidante and the chairman of his 2014 re-election campaign, has pleaded not guilty. He has been on trial for five weeks along with two developers, Steve Aiello and Joseph Gerardi, and an energy company executive, Peter Galbraith Kelly. His lawyer, Barry Bohrer, was expected to give his closing argument Wednesday.

Cuomo, a Democrat, has not been accused of wrongdoing.