Sheldon Silver failed to convince a judge that the coronavirus pandemic makes it too dangerous for him to get re-sentenced in person for his $4 million bribery scheme.
Manhattan federal Judge Valerie Caproni rejected a request by the once-powerful, former Assembly speaker to appear before her by video-conference on Monday.
“The Courthouse has reopened to the public and implemented screening at entry, mask and social-distancing requirements, and sanitation protocols, among other precautions,” Caproni wrote.
“This Court is currently holding in-person proceedings where those measures are all observed. Accordingly, it is the Court’s preference to conduct Mr. Silver’s resentencing at the Courthouse.”
In a letter last month, the Manhattan Democrat’s lawyers claimed that “barring some unforeseen medical breakthrough … it is simply not safe” for Silver, 76, to show up in court because he’s “among the segment of the population most at risk to suffer severe illness and death from this virus.”
In addition, they said, he “suffers from several pre-existing conditions that greatly increase his risk,” including his “diagnosis and treatment for cancer within the past five years.”
Silver was found guilty of corruption charges in 2015 and was sentenced to seven years in prison, but was allowed to remain free while he mounted an appeal that resulted in his conviction being overturned on a technicality.
He was convicted a second time in 2018, but again remained free for another appeal that resulted in some of the counts being dismissed.
Silver — who’s collecting a $7,000-a-month pension — last month pleaded for leniency in a desperate, hand-written letter to the judge.
“Your Honor, I do not want to die in prison,” he wrote.
“This case has been going on for more than 5 years, but I feel like I have aged 15 or 20 years. My fate is in your hands.”
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1 comment:
Appeal it.
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