Free Republic

New York State Senator John Sampson, a Democrat of Brooklyn, was convicted yesterday on three counts, including obstruction of justice. He was acquitted on six others, but the conviction should result in significant prison time. No date has yet been set for sentencing. Between 1998 and 2008, Sampson allegedly embezzled approximately $440,000 from the foreclosure sales of four Brooklyn properties on which he was a court- appointed referee. The embezzlement charges were thrown out because the state of limitations expired. The charges on which he was convicted relate to the cover-up. Reportedly, the Sampson investigation was an extension of...

New York state Sen. John Sampson was found guilty of obstruction of justice. Like Tom Libous, he will lose his senate seat. A New York state senator has been convicted on federal charges he sought to sabotage an investigation targeting him for embezzlement. A Brooklyn jury reached the verdict Friday in the corruption case against Sen. John Sampson.

Melvin E. Lowe, a New York political consultant, was found guilty yesterday of conspiring with State Senator John Sampson of Brooklyn (in photo) to defraud the New York Senate Campaign Committee out of $100,000. Sampson is under indictment on unrelated charges of embezzlement, obstruction of justice and making false statements to the FBI. He allegedly embezzled $440,000 from escrow accounts on foreclosed properties. Sampson and Lowe were caught up in an investigation prompted by NLPC's exposé of former State Senator Shirley Huntley, who was jailed for looting a nonprofit organization she founded, for which political allies had arranged to...

A New York state senator from Brooklyn was charged on Monday with stealing proceeds from sales of foreclosed properties to finance a failed run for district attorney, prosecutors said, making him the state’s latest politician to face federal criminal charges. John Sampson, 47, a Democrat who has represented southeastern Brooklyn since 1997, was charged with nine counts including embezzlement, obstruction of justice and making false statements to federal investigators, according to an indictment unsealed Monday. Sampson, a practicing attorney for more than two decades, turned himself in and was arraigned in Brooklyn federal court Monday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty,...

ACORN, a social justice organization with roots in [New Orleans], battles a string of scandals. The announcement stuck to a wall outside the entrance to ACORN's local office in the 2600 block of Canal Street quietly signals the trouble afoot. In English and Spanish, the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now tells walk-up clients that ACORN's housing office has shut itself down for two weeks to immerse itself "in an intensive training program." The sign is a symptom of a tumultuous week in the history of a controversial poor people's social justice movement -- one founded by a New...