The U.S. Supreme Court has thrown out the fraud convictions of two associates of former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, in a decision that could have implications for other public corruption cases. The decision, which was issued on Monday, May 15, 2023, ruled that the evidence presented against the defendants, Joseph Percoco and Alain Kaloyeros, was insufficient to sustain their convictions.
The case involved two separate corruption schemes. Percoco, a former top aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, was found guilty of taking more than $300,000 in bribes from energy company Competitive Power Ventures in exchange for state contracts. Kaloyeros, a former president of the State University of New York Polytechnic Institute, was convicted of rigging bids for state-funded construction projects in order to favor certain developers.
The Supreme Court’s decision comes after a lower court had upheld the convictions in 2021. The justices ruled that the government had failed to show that Percoco and Kaloyeros had violated a federal fraud law, because they did not deprive the state of its “intangible right to honest services.”
The ruling could have implications for other public corruption cases, as the “honest services” law has been used as a basis for many such prosecutions. The law has been criticized by some legal experts for being vague and difficult to apply.
The decision was a blow to the efforts of federal prosecutors to combat corruption in New York State, which has been plagued by scandals in recent years. Silver, the former Assembly Speaker, was convicted in 2015 of accepting bribes and kickbacks, and sentenced to 12 years in prison. His conviction was also overturned by the Supreme Court in 2021, on similar grounds of insufficient evidence.
The ruling is likely to be seen as a setback for the efforts to clean up New York State politics, which have long been marred by corruption and scandal. However, some legal experts say that the decision may ultimately lead to more clarity in the law, as prosecutors are forced to refine their arguments and focus more on the specific elements of fraud.
Overall, the Supreme Court’s decision in the Albany corruption case has raised important questions about the role of the courts in combating public corruption, and about the effectiveness of current anti-corruption laws. It remains to be seen how these issues will be resolved in the coming months and years.