Ex-Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin dodges serious bribery, wire fraud raps
Former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin on Monday dodged serious bribery and fraud raps when a Manhattan judge dismissed three federal charges against him.
Judge Paul Oetken ruled that prosecutors from the Southern District of New York failed to outline the explicit quid pro quo needed for bribery, honest services wire fraud and a related conspiracy charge brought in the April federal indictment against Benjamin.
Benjamin will still face two counts of falsification of records, Oetken said.
The falsification charges each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors said later Monday that they will appeal Oetken’s ruling.
Benjamin, a Harlem Democrat, was accused of accepting contributions for his state Senate and city comptroller campaigns from real estate developer Gerald Migdol in exchange for steering state funds to a nonprofit the donor controlled.
Since charges against him were brought, Benjamin — who resigned as Gov. Kathy Hochul’s No. 2 in April — has fervently pushed back through his lawyers in hearings and filings in the case.
In August, defense lawyer Barry Berke accused prosecutors of improperly charging his client, calling it the “most aggressive political corruption case ever made by the US government.
“Simply asking for money before or after a benefit, that cannot be enough,” Berke told Oetken at a hearing.
In his opinion Monday, Oetken said prosecutors failed to show the necessary explicit quid pro quo in their indictment against Benjamin, which tracks with legal opinions held by the Second Circuit Court of Appeals.
“The Second Circuit has held — again, explicitly — that ‘proof of an express promise is necessary when the payments are made in the form of campaign contributions,’ ” Oetken wrote.
“With this understanding in mind, Counts One, Two, and Three of the Indictment must be dismissed because it does not allege as an element of any of the three counts that Benjamin made an ‘explicit’ agreement with Migdol that his conduct as a state senator would be controlled in exchange for campaign contributions,” Oetken added.
The charges dropped against Benjamin — wire fraud, bribery and conspiracy — carry maximum prison terms of 20 years, 10 years and five years, respectively.
Oetken said prosecutors came close to meeting the threshold for the allegations when they wrote Benjamin accepted Migdol’s contributions “in exchange for” grants to his nonprofit but still fell short.
“In its opposition brief, the government insists that the ‘in exchange for’ phrasing satisfies the explicit requirement,” Oetken wrote.
“It does not,” he said.
In a statement, Benjamin’s lawyers said it is “tragic” that the charges against their client were ever brought in the first place.
“Today’s decision shows how these wrongful charges so harmed Mr. Benjamin and unfairly cost him his position as Lt. Governor,” wrote defense lawyers Barry Berke and Dani James. “The dismissal of this now discredited bribery theory also makes clear how the indictment was a direct assault on the democratic process.”
But the good government group Common Cause/NY responded to the dropped counts against Benjamin by calling for Congress and the state Legislature to strengthen anti-bribery laws.
“The Supreme Court’s absurd and ridiculous decision in McDonnell vs. the United States is the gift that keeps on giving for public officials like Brian Benjamin, and a black eye to the public’s common sense understanding of corruption,” said Susan Lerner, executive director of the group, in a statement.
Additional reporting by Zach Williams