Ex-Assemblyman From Queens Gets Six-Year Term for Influence Peddling

New York Times ^ | 02/04/10 | COLIN MOYNIHAN

[AtlasStalled]

The former assemblyman Anthony S. Seminerio, who prosecutors said took more than $1 million in payments from people and organizations doing business with the state, was sentenced to six years in prison by a federal judge in Manhattan on Thursday. For 30 years Mr. Seminerio, a Democrat, cultivated a streetwise persona and the trappings of crude political clout while representing the 38th District in southwest Queens. * * * The judge also chided him for his “refusal to acknowledge the breadth and depth of your criminal conduct.” Mr. Seminerio, 74, is among more than a dozen state lawmakers who have been forced to resign in recent years over ethical issues or have been convicted of crimes. * * * [P]rosecutors said that Mr. Seminerio had abused his office for a decade, soliciting a stream of payments, exerting his influence to benefit clients and sometimes threatening people or organizations who resisted his demands for work from them. * * * At one point Mr. Seminerio told F.B.I. agents that he saw himself as a “godfather.” His signature phone style, captured on F.B.I. wiretaps, involved braggadocio and hearty bonhomie, along with profanity and blunt requests.

[the invisib1e hand]

hunh. he must have stopped making his payments.

[Mobties]

‘.... admitted that in 2008 that he “promoted the interests” of Jamaica Hospital Medical Center in connection with state business and did not divulge receiving payments — exceeding $300,000 ....”
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Why, that sounds familiar. Didn’t Senator Barack Hussein Obama (D,Il) deliver a million dollar slice of pork to a Chicago hospital and then ... SHAZAM! ... that same hospital raised Michelle Obama’s salary by nearly $200,000 in a legal position so “vital” that it has remained unfilled since Michelle quit to work on the campaign and then assume the duties of First Lady?

Nice to see, BTW, that the NYT identifies the felonious politician as a Democrat ..... in the second sentence of this article! Gotta be a first.

[AtlasStalled]

“Nice to see, BTW, that the NYT identifies the felonious politician as a Democrat ..... in the second sentence of this article!”

Right?! I was surprised to see that, too.

[jmaroneps37]

This guy is a classic Democrat crook and should have been put away for longer.

[fieldmarshaldj]

*ping*

[neverdem]

Thanks for posting.