Judge Dismisses Bribery Charges Against Brian Benjamin
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Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin

Former State Senator Brian Benjamin pumps his fist as he celebrates during a press conference announcing him as Lt. Governor on Aug. 26, 2021 in New York City.

A federal judge in Manhattan threw out three of five charges in an indictment lodged against New York’s former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin (D), formerly the second-in-command to Gov. Kathy Hochul (D).

U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken found in a 38-page opinion and order that federal prosecutors failed to allege “an explicit quid pro quo” — an essential element of the bribery and honest services wire fraud charges brought against Benjamin.”

Oetken, therefore, tossed out charges of conspiracy, bribery, and honest services wire fraud. Though the dismissal of those three charges amounts to a big win for Benjamin, he still faces charges for allegedly falsifying records “relating to contributions to his Senate campaign” and falsifying records related to an “executive appointment questionnaire.”

As Law&Crime reported when the indictment dropped in April, Benjamin was accused of scheming to obtain campaign contributions from a real estate developer in return for using a state senatorial position to help obtain a $50,000 for a non-profit organization controlled by that developer — namely, Friends of Public School Harlem.

That developer, Judge Oetken noted, was Gerald Migdol.

Benjamin’s attorneys previously insisted that their client was being railroaded.

“There was nothing inappropriate about this grant,” they said, adding that they would aimed to prove Benjamin, in fact, did something “laudable.”

Read the opinion here.

This is a developing story.

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