US Attorney Preet Bharara puts corruption on notice: Sheldon Silver arrested

On January 22, 2015, federal agents arrested Sheldon Silver, the powerful Democratic speaker of the New York State Assembly, on corruption charges — the culmination of a case brought by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara.

Bharara alleged that Silver, 70, one of Albany's "three men in a room," had for years traded his office for nearly $4 million in bribes and kickbacks, masked as referral fees from a law firm and payments from real estate developers. At a news conference with FBI officials, Bharara put it bluntly: "For many years, New Yorkers have asked the question: How could Speaker Silver, one of the most powerful men in all of New York, earn millions of dollars in outside income without deeply compromising his ability to honestly serve his constituents? Today, we provide the answer: He didn't."

"Any time you have an allegation — especially when it's proven — against a public official, that is disturbing," Bharara added. "And when you have an allegation against someone who is a public official — not just in a random file capacity, but a leader of an entire body... that is especially disturbing."

FBI Special Agent in Charge Richard Frankel said at the same briefing: "As we are reminded today, those who make the laws don't have the right to break the laws." Silver, for his part, maintained he would be vindicated.

The epilogue: Silver was convicted on all counts in November 2015; the conviction was vacated in 2017 after the Supreme Court's McDonnell decision narrowed corruption law, but he was convicted again at retrial in 2018 and sentenced to 6½ years in federal prison. He died in federal custody in January 2022.

---

Based on reporting by the New York Post, January 2015.