Free, but not clear
Lawman vows new Skelos trial
WHILE DISGRACED ex-politician Dean Skelos won a brand new trial on Tuesday, prosecutors predict the deposed state Senate majority leader will hear the same old verdict: Guilty.
Barely two months after fellow former state political boss Sheldon Silver saw his corruption conviction tossed, Skelos learned his convictions in a shakedown scam were overturned as well.
The ruling from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was widely expected under a recent Supreme Court decision changing the parameters of prosecution for political corruption.
But Acting Manhattan U.S. Attorney Joon Kim remained confident in his case against the Republican Skelos and son Adam.
“We look forward to a prompt retrial where we will have another opportunity to present the overwhelming evidence of Dean Skelos and Adam Skelos’s guilt,” he said.
Kim noted the appeals court specifically wrote in its opinion that “the evidence was more than sufficient to convict Dean and Adam Skelos.”
Defense attorneys for the father and son hailed the decision, with one suggesting there’s no need for a retrial.
“This is a case that never should have been brought,” said Alexandra Shapiro, who represented Dean Skelos. “Sen. Skelos is grateful for the court’s careful consideration of the issues and looks forward to the next steps.”
Kim’s predecessor Preet Bharara also believes the Skeloses will face a second guilty verdict — and this one will stick. The two were convicted of bribery, extortion and conspiracy.
Bharara, whose office convicted the pair in December 2015, said the appeals court ruling offered only a temporary legal respite.
“As with Sheldon Silver, (federal prosecutors) will retry Dean and Adam Skelos,” said Bharara via Twitter. “(The Supreme Court) made it harder to punish corruption, but justice should prevail here.”
Both defendants remain free on appeal, and have yet to spend a single day in jail. Dean Skelos was sentenced to five years, and Adam to61 years. The decision in favor of the defense was fully anticipated after a similar ruling granted a second trial for Silver, a Democrat, in July. “Not unexpected, but still disappointing, given there was more than enough evidence to convict as the appeals court itself found,” tweeted Bharara. Prosecutors charged Skelos pestered companies dependent on his political and financial influence to take care of his son, Adam, to the tune of $300,000 in consulting work, a no-show job and cash payments. Jurors heard a recorded conversation where Skelos advised his son to keep his head down during the “dangerous times” of a corruption crackdown in Albany.
“Today’s ruling shakes society’s faith in our justice system to the core,” said state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, the former federal prosecutor who filled Skelos’ seat.
“The lurid details . . . were laid out for all to see, leaving the public now to wonder whether even the most brazen acts are beyond the grasp of the law.”
In early 2016, the U.S. Supreme Court threw out the conviction of former Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell by clarifying the legal definition of an “official act” — since overturning other corruption convictions like dominoes.