Prosecutor: Don’t buy Skelos’ bull, convict him
That was the message federal prosecutors hammered home to the jury Tuesday in the retrial of the public corruption case against former Albany power broker Dean Skelos and his wayward son Adam.
The ex-state senator from Long Island spent two tear-jerking days on the witness stand talking about his struggles as a single dad, his son’s behavioral problems and the favors he called in from various captains of industry — purely the fruits of longtime friendships.
“For 30 years, Dean Skelos was in the business of convincing people to vote for him,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas McKay said during the government’s closing arguments. “That is exactly what he was doing on the witness stand: He was trying to win your vote — to charm you, to make you feel sympathy for him.”
Skelos spent years as the leader of the Republican controlled state senate, sharing power with the state Assembly speaker and the governor for control of the states multibillion-dollar budget. He’s accused of soliciting bribes and shaking down developers, insurers and construction companies to hire his slacker kid.
“Dean Skelos wasn’t just a doting father — he knew exactly what he was doing,” the prosecutor said. “When he took that witness stand, he took responsibility for nothing. It was shameless, and it was another reason why you should not believe his testimony.”
The father and son were found guilty in 2015, but the conviction was overturned on appeal because of a later Supreme Court decision that narrowed the definition of corrupt acts.
In a four-hour summation of the case, McKay neatly outlined the facts in the the three quid-pro-quo schemes federal prosecutors have charged the father and son with carrying out between 2010 and 2015. The renewal of affordable housing legislation was vital to Glenwood, the development company Dean reached out to about hiring his son. AbTech, who paid Adam $4,000 a month, needed a $12 million contract to get the business off the ground, and that an insurance company, PRI, which offered the 32-yearold man-child a no-show job, “could cease to exist if the extender laws weren’t passed.”
“Dean had power, enormous power, and every two years he swore an oath — an oath to use that power to represent the people who elected him,” McKay said.
McKay told jurors to look no further than the testimony of the multiple witnesses — alleged victims of Dean’s bribery and extortion — who took the stand over the last two weeks.
He said the companies were victims of bribery and extortion who were given little choice but to play ball and give in to the pol’s demands.
“They were targets of the Skelos family shakedown,” said McKay.
Quoting a portion of previous testimony — in which the general counsel of Glenwood, explained why he paid off Adam Skelos despite knowing he’d fallen victim to bribery — McKay told the jurors they needed nothing more to find Dean and Adam guilty of the Glenwood scheme.
The federal prosecutor asked jurors to remember that whether or not Dean followed through with the bribes he was dangling over the companies heads — or whether he intended to vote for the legislation in question anyway — was irrelevant.
“When he took that witness stand, he smiled and he cracked jokes and he told you stories about apple pies, but never, not for one second, did he acknowledge that he did anything wrong,” he said.