ALBANY – A bribery-tainted prison company has agreed to pay a record $250,000 fine and not lobby in New York for seven years, under a tentative settlement with the state Lobbying Commission.
The lawyer for Correctional Services Corp. agreed to the deal yesterday, subject to approval by the Florida-based company’s board today, said Lobbying Commission Executive Director David Grandeau.
CSC is accused of failing to report free transportation and other gifts to New York lawmakers. State law bars legislators from accepting gifts and other services worth more than $75 each.
If accepted by the company, the Lobbying Commission is expected to also sign off on the deal this afternoon.
The $250,000 fine would equal a penalty imposed in 2000 on Donald Trump and his associates in the highest ever handed out by the commission.
But unlike with the Trump case, CSC would also have a seven-year “death penalty” in which it can neither lobby on its own or hire a lobbyist in the state for seven years.
“It’s a recognition that this kind of activity is not going to be tolerated,” Grandeau said.
While a settlement would end the Lobbying Commission investigation, the company is still being probed for possible criminal violations by the Albany and Manhattan district attorneys’ offices.
CSC came under investigation by the Lobbying Commission after Assemblywoman Gloria Davis of The Bronx resigned in January after admitting she accepted free rides to and from Albany from CSC in return for helping the company with its contracts.
Soon after, Assemblyman Roger Green (D-Brooklyn) told The Post he, too, accepted free rides from the company, but denied they were in exchange for help.
Other prominent state and city officials are reported to have accepted dinners, rides, plane tickets and other gifts from the company as well.
CSC lawyer David Featherstonhaugh said he expects the company this morning to decide whether to accept the settlement terms. If CSC does not accept the deal, the Lobbying Commission will schedule a civil-penalty hearing for May, Grandeau said.
CSC no longer has any contracts with the state.