Bribery Counts Dropped But Former Lieutenant Gov. Still Charged

The former second-in-command in Albany is still facing charges, but not as many following court action December 5.

Bribery and fraud charges against former New York Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin have been thrown out by a federal judge leaving Benjamin to face only records falsification charges.

The charges that were left intact allege that Benjamin knowingly made a false entry in a record with the intent to impede an investigation. Each of them carry a potential maximum prison sentence of 20 years.

Photo: Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images (file)

Prosecutors almost immediately said they were planning an appeal.

Benjamin’s trial on bribery allegations were to start in six weeks before Judge J. Paul Oetken issued a written opinion on Monday, December 5 saying prosecutors failed to produce an explicit example in which Benjamin provided a favor in exchange for a bribe. That caveat lies at the root of filing bribery and honest services fraud charges that are not only prosecutable but can uphold legal scrutiny.

Benjamin resigned after his arrest last April. The Harlem Democrat pleaded not guilty to charges accusing him of obtaining campaign contributions from a real estate developer in exchange for pushing $50,000 in New York State grant funds toward a nonprofit organization the developer controlled.

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At the time of his arrest, Benjamin's lawyers had issued a statement saying they planned to show the courts that their client's actions were laudable rather than a crime.

The Associated Press reports that on December 5, attorneys Barry Berke and Dani James said in a statement that the ruling “shows how these wrongful charges so harmed Mr. Benjamin and unfairly cost him his position as Lieutenant Governor.”

These Are the Smallest Counties in New York State. And We Mean SMALL!!

There are 62 counties in the state of New York. The largest (by population) is Kings County (Brooklyn). It has a population of 2,726,002 people. But, there are far more smaller counties in the state than larger ones. This list takes a look at the smallest counties in New York, with all of them in some region of Upstate New York. Even though they are sparsely populated, each has a few places that any NYS road warrior might want to stop at and explore. So here are the 19 smallest counties (by most recent population data) in the state and what you might find on a visit to each of them. Two interesting pieces of trivia you will find in this list. The largest of the 19 counties on this list could take every single resident in the whole county out to Highmark Stadium out to the Buffalo area to watch a Buffalo Bills football game, and still have room for 10,000 more guests in the stadium. And (this one will blow your mind) the very smallest county in New York State literally has no stop lights in the entire county!

Gallery Credit: Chuck D'Imperio