Silver beats (a few) fraud raps on appeal

A federal appeals court Tuesday partially overturned the most recent conviction of former state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver — but the disgraced ex-pol is still likely to face a prison sentence.

The Second Circuit Court of Appeals vacated the 75year-old Silver’s conviction on honest-services mail fraud and wire fraud. But it upheld the charges against him of honest-services wire fraud, extortion and monetary transactions involving crime proceeds.

Silver (right) must now head back to Manhattan federal court to be resentenced by Judge Valerie Caproni.

His new sentencing date has yet to be set.

The dismissed counts bring down the maximum prison sentence that Silver could receive from 140 years to 80 years, though it’s unlikely that Caproni would exceed her previous sevenyear sentence handed down to Silver.

And she is still expected to slap him with at least some time behind bars.

Jurors in 2018 found the former political heavyweight guilty of two schemes — funneling state monies to a cancer researcher in return for patient referrals to Silver’s law firm, and supporting a realestate developer’s position on rent regulations in exchange for about $4 million in bribes.

The appeals court unanimously ruled that the charges related to the cancer scheme could not stand, as a judge had failed to properly instruct jurors on the law on those counts.

The 2018 trial was actually a retrial for Silver, after his 2015 federal conviction was overturned on appeal.

He has not spent a day behind bars since his second conviction, instead remaining out on bail pending this latest appeal.

The shamed Silver continues to live on the Lower East Side on public funds, collecting a $7,000 monthly state pension.

Silver’s lawyer, Meir Feder, declined to answer questions from The Post on Tuesday, including about whether his client plans to appeal the circuit court’s decision. His lawyers can either ask the circuit court to hear arguments again or request that the US Supreme Court weigh the case.

The Manhattan US Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted Silver, did not comment.