Not enough to put convicted Shel in cell: appeal att’y

There’s not enough proof that ex-state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver committed a crime by sending a doctor $500,000 in taxpayer research grants in return for the names of people sick with mesothelioma, one of his lawyers argued Wednesday.

That’s because Silver never explicitly promised anything to Dr. Robert Taub of Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in return for the names, lawyer Meir Feder told a three-judge appeals panel in Manhattan Federal Court.

Taub helped Silver earn millions in legal fees by giving him the names of his patients, which Silver turned over to his colleagues at the Weitz & Luxenberg law firm.

Weitz & Luxenberg paid Silver $3.1 million in fees it took from the patients’ cases.

“The crime is exchanging something for it — promising to do something in return,” Feder argued. He said there wasn’t enough evidence that Silver explicitly promised the $500,000 in state grants or anything else to Taub.

A government lawyer countered that argument by saying Silver knew exactly what he was doing when he sent an intermediary to tell Taub: “Shelly wants cases.”

“Sheldon Silver knew what made Dr. Taub tick,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Richenthal. “What made Dr. Taub tick was support for mesothelioma (research) and prestige.”

Silver was convicted last May of seven corruption counts at his second trial after his earlier conviction on the same charges was overturned on appeal.