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April 13, 2011
Here comes the bribe: Kruger hit with more charges
The Brooklyn Paper
by Thomas Tracy
More crimes have been added to the morass of charges filed against state Sen. Carl Kruger — leaving the embattled legislator in even hotter water than he was before.
An indictment released last week adds bribery to the fraud and money laundering charges filed against Kruger (D–Brighton Beach) last month.
If convicted on all counts, Kruger, 61, would face 90 years in prison. He would also have to pay more than $10 million in fines.
During an arraignment hearing on Tuesday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Harrington told U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff that he has 100,000 documents and 30,000 recorded phone conversations that establish his case.
Kruger is accused of taking close to $1 million in bribes from lobbyist Richard Lipsky, Brooklyn developer Aaron Malinsky, David Rosen, the former CEO of Brookdale Hospital, and a handful of other hospital officials between 2006 and 2010.
...During the brief hearing, attorneys for four of the legislator’s would-be co-conspirators, including Turano, announced that they were planning to sever their cases from the senator, apparently believing they’ll have a better chance with a jury without Kruger’s alleged crimes dragging them down. Severing the cases would also improve a defendant’s chances of a plea deal as they approach trial.
Defense attorneys say severing their cases from Kruger’s is logical since the FBI’s case involves several different conspiracies that do not involve all of the defendants.
“It’s a confusing indictment,” attorney Jeff Lefcourt, who is defending Lipsky, said. “It alleges six different conspiracies, but my client isn’t in all of them.”
Posted by eric at April 13, 2011 2:45 PM