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DONE DEAL: Michael Boxley leaves the Albany court yesterday after agreeing to register as a sex offender. Skip Dickstein/Albany Times Union ALBANY - A former top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver yesterday entered a surprise plea to settle a rape charge against him and will have to register as a sex offender - but will avoid any prison time. J. Michael Boxley, who was the Assembly's top lawyer, pleaded guilty in Albany County Court to a misdemeanor charge of sexual misconduct in a case involving a night of drinking between him and a young legislative staffer that ended...

Top Silver Aide Michael Boxley Indicted on Rape Charges(updated: August 1st, 5:00pm) A grand jury today indicted top legislative lawyer Michael Boxley on charges he raped a 22-year-old co-worker. Boxley, a top aide for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, has been on unpaid leave since he arrested at the State Capitol in June.The indictment consists of two counts, each of first and third-degree rape. The woman alleged Boxley assaulted her at her apartment after a night of partying at local bars.Boxley has maintained his innocence through his lawyer.Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver released a statement this afternoon. "I am advised that certain...

<p>July 28, 2003 -- A SSEMBLY Speaker Sheldon Silver's longtime chief counsel may be indicted on a rape charge later this week, The Post has learned.</p> <p>The Albany County grand jury will take up the high-profile case of Michael Boxley - who was led away from his Assembly office in handcuffs last month after being charged with raping a 22-year-old Assembly staffer - within days, possibly as soon as Friday, a source familiar with the situation told The Post.</p>

<p>The FBI has begun examining the personal computer of former Assembly chief counsel and accused rapist J. Michael Boxley, The Post has learned.</p> <p>Albany police turned the computer over to the FBI for expert analysis a few days ago and are looking for evidence involving sex crimes and possibly "other offenses," said an official with firsthand knowledge of the politically explosive case.</p>

<p>June 20, 2003 -- ALBANY - The top aide to Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who was put on unpaid leave earlier this week after being charged with rape, has accumulated 421/2 weeks of paid leave, officials revealed yesterday.</p> <p>J. Michael Boxley, 43, Silver's $130,395-a-year chief counsel and a one-time senior aide to Senate Democrats and former Gov. Mario Cuomo, is owed by the state a total of 1,485 hours in vacation, personal, holiday and sick time, according to the Assembly's personnel office.</p>

ALBANY, N.Y. -- A prominent legislative lawyer was placed on leave Monday after being charged with raping a 22-year-old co-worker at her apartment after a night of drinking. Michael Boxley, who earned $130,395 as chief counsel to Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, had been absent from work since he was arrested last Wednesday and taken out of his Capitol office in handcuffs. Boxley, 43, was charged with one count each of first- and third-degree rape. Police said Boxley offered the woman a ride home after the two met colleagues for drinks at a bar and sexually assaulted her at her...

<p>June 16, 2003 -- THE woman who accused Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's top aide of rape has become the target of a vicious smear campaign by Silver's fellow Democrats, The Post has learned.</p> <p>And the campaign - spearheaded by staffers and even a few legislators - has some in the party hopping mad.</p>

<p>The silence up at the state capital over the arrest on rape charges of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver's chief counsel is troubling, though predictable.</p> <p>J. Michael Boxley, arguably Silver's most powerful staffer, is charged with raping a 22-year-old Assembly aide Tuesday morning after he agreed to drive her home from a night out in Albany bars.</p>