Free Republic

Pedro Espada Jr., the former state senator best known for an audacious power grab that propelled him over a perennial cloud of suspicion to a top position in the State Legislature, was convicted Monday of stealing money from the nonprofit health care network that he founded and led in the Bronx. The federal jury announced the guilty verdict on four counts of theft and then left the courtroom to resume deliberations on remaining four charges, which include theft, fraud and conspiracy. Mr. Espada sat expressionless, hands resting on the table in front of him, as the jury foreman read the...

ALBANY, N.Y. -- New York Sen. Pedro Espada calls the latest lawsuit filed against him by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo a further attempt at "political assassination" and denies running a sham job training program. In a suit today , Cuomo says the Bronx Democrat and his son Pedro G. Espada are violating labor laws and shortchanging workers through the training program at their Bronx health centers...

NEW YORK (AP) -- Federal authorities raided a government-funded clinic run by the state Senate's majority leader, one day after New York's attorney general accused him of siphoning $14 million from it. About a dozen FBI and IRS agents and investigators from the attorney general's office appeared Wednesday at the Soundview Healthcare Network in the Bronx, where a big canopy above the front door lists Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. as its president and CEO.....

Bronx Senator's Financial Windfall From Turning Albany On Its Ear Continues With $568,000 For Staff Hires Reporting NEW YORK (CBS) Senator Pedro Espada is embroiled in a new pay controversy. CBS 2 HD has learned he's doling out raises and jobs to friends and cronies with money he got after he re-defected to the Democrats in the Albany circus. The Albany coup is the gift that keeps on giving -- to Espada. After the renegade politician agreed to rejoin the Democrats -- giving them the majority -- he received $568,000 for increases to his staff. "He's really the poster boy...

SEN. ESPADA RETURNING TO DEMOCRATS POWER IN ALBANY FLIPS AGAIN ALBANY - Bronx state Sen. Pedro Espada, whose defection to the Republican camp helped trigger the current Senate crisis, will return to the Democratic fold and end the month-long Senate stalemate, The Post has learned. Espada, whose defection to the Republicans was the main reason for Gov. Paterson's controversial action yesterday "naming" Richard Ravitch as lieutenant governor, revealed his startling plans to The Post. The defection would bring a quick end to the Senate's current 31-31 vote stalemate, in which Espada has repeatedly joined with the 30 Republican members in...

Bronx Democrat, State Sen. Espada, Switches To GOP (Albany-AP, February 4, 2002) — State Sen. Pedro Espada of the Bronx switched Monday from being a Democrat to a Republican and joined the GOP majority in the Senate. Espada signed a new voter enrollment form at a state Capitol news conference surrounded by his family and his new Republican colleagues in the Senate. Espada, who was first elected to the Senate in 1992, said he was joining the Republican majority not only to improve his own stature in the Senate but also for the good of his mostly minority constituents in ...