'Trying' time for Cup 'bro'
Bribe case opens for gov's ex-aide
Gov. Cuomo’s chief of staff is among the first witnesses set to be called Tuesday at the corruption trial of a former aide whom the governor once likened to a brother — and whose case could thwart Cuomo’s potential presidential ambitions.
Linda Lacewell, who has been described as Cuomo’s “minister of defense,” will be called to the stand following opening statements in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors said.
A jury of seven women and five men was chosen Monday to hear the evidence against Joseph Percoco, who is accused of collecting more than $300,000 in “pay-to-play” bribes from companies seeking to do business with the state.
The panel was picked following a day of questioning that saw several potential jurors booted for voicing strong feel- ings about politicians.
“All politicians are crooks in some way and lie more than tell the truth,” Marguerite Ballus of Putnam County wrote on a questionnaire.
One of the payoffs Percoco is accused of accepting took the form of a “low-show job” that allegedly paid his wife $90,000 a year for at most 20 hours of work a week.
A strange moment in the hearing happened during a sidebar, when, according to court records, Percoco’s lawyer, Barry Bohrer, complained to Manhattan federal Judge Valerie Caproni about a woman who was staring at the former Cuomo aide in the courtroom and “attacked him verbally” in an elevator.
“And it borders on harassment,” he added. “At some point, it affects Mr. Percoco’s right to a fair trial. I will confess to you I don’t know what to do other than to begin by putting it on the record.”
It was not clear who the woman was or what she said.
Key testimony is expected to come from former lobbyist turned cooperating witness Todd Howe, who allegedly exchanged e-mails with Percoco in which they referred to cash as “ziti” — a move prosecutors say they lifted from HBO’s mobster series, “The Sopranos.”
That evidence prompted state Republican Chair Ed Cox and Manhattan GOP Chair Andrea Catsimatidis to stand outside the courthouse behind a banner emblazoned with images of a doctored box of Ronzoni pasta labeled “CUOMO’S BRIBEZONI.”
Staten Island Assemblyman Ron Castorina Jr. said the stunt by his fellow Republicans smacked of anti-Italian bigotry.
“My personal visceral reaction is I’m offended by this,” said Castorina.