In Albany’s second major corruption case this week, a New York state lawmaker was arrested Thursday on federal charges of accepting bribes and another lawmaker was forced to resign for his part in a purported scheme to help developers open and operate adult-day-care centers.
The criminal complaint outlined a plot that involved exploiting some of New York City’s most vulnerable residents, introducing a law to serve the interests of four businessmen and the passing of cash in a hotel restroom and an upscale steakhouse. The case also involved a second assemblyman, himself under indictment, who agreed to cooperate with investigators and wear a recording device to help make the case against a fellow lawmaker.
Assemblyman Eric Stevenson, a Democrat who represents some of the city’s poorest neighborhoods in the South Bronx, was accused of taking money to help several developers obtain building certificates, expedite construction work and recruit older people, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney in Manhattan. Stevenson is also accused of drafting legislation that would have prevented anynew adult-day-care centers from opening in New York City with the express intention of helping the developers.
“For the second time in three days, we unseal criminal charges against a sitting member of our state Legislature,” said the U.S. attorney, Preet Bharara. “As alleged, Assemblyman Eric Stevenson was bribed to enact a statutory moratorium to give his co-defendants a local monopoly - a fairly neat trick that offends core principles of both democracy and capitalism, simultaneously, and it is exactly what the defendants managed to do. The allegations illustrate the corruption of an elected representative’s core function - a legislator selling legislation.”
Another lawmaker, Nelson Castro, 41, also a Democrat from the Bronx, also was implicated in wrongdoing. He is referred to only as Assemblyman-1 in the complaint since he entered into a nonprosecution deal for assisting in the investigation, which included an agreement to resign once the charges against Stevenson, 47, were unveiled.
The charges against Stevenson came two days after a top lawmaker in Albany, Malcolm Smith, was arrested in a sprawling and complex bribery and corruption scheme that involved a plot to buy a spot on the ballot in this year’s race for mayor of New York City. A city councilman, Dan Halloran, along with leaders of the Republican Party in the Bronx and Queens, also was charged in that case.
Stevenson’s lawyer, Murray Richman, said he was still reviewing the charges and would have no comment until he had done so.
Bharara, during a news conference, said the people of New York should be not just disappointed but also angry over the “brazen and blunt” corruption that is “pervasive” in government.
When it is more likely that a state senator will be arrested rather than defeated at the polls, “people should be angry,” he said.
Bharara said the selling of legislation raises a number of troubling questions, including whether other laws passed in Albany are the result of bribery and how many items in the budget might have been illicitly put there through graft.
“Whenever corruption is on the rise, that means that democracy is on the decline,” he said.
In addition to Stevenson, the complaint charges four businessmen - Igor Belyansky, Rostislav Belyansky, David Binman and IgorTsimerman - with taking part in the scheme. Their conversations were captured by Castro, who was working with prosecutors and outfitted with a hidden recorder, and another unnamed confidential witness.
The investigation into Stevenson was prompted by a separate investigation into Castro.
“On July 31, 2009, I was indicted by a Bronx County grand jury for committing perjury in a 2008 civil matter, held prior to my election to the Assembly,” Castro said in a statement released by his lawyer, Michael Farkas.
“I agreed to cooperate with the Bronx district attorney’s office and, later, the United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, in conjunction with various investigations aimed at rooting out public corruption,” he said. “I deeply regret my misconduct while campaigning before I was elected to office.”
Stevenson, who was first elected to the Assembly in 2010, has deep roots in the Bronx community and is the scion of a family who has been involved in public service for decades. His father, Edward A. Stevenson Jr., served as a district leader in the Bronx, and his grandfather Edward A. Stevenson Sr. represented the 6th District in the Bronx in the Assembly.
After assisting the developers with their new adultday-care center, the complaint said, Stevenson prepared legislation that would have effectively stopped any new adult-day-care centers from opening in the city, so that there would be no competition for the centers run by the Belyanskys, Tsimerman and Binman.
During a conversation recorded on Dec. 27, 2012, Stevenson told the confidential witness that he needed money for his inauguration celebration and “to feed all the people.”
Stevenson, according to the complaint, was handed $5,000 in a parked car before the legislation was drafted. He received an additional $5,000 in a hotel bathroom in Albany after the draft was complete, according to the complaint.
He said that drafting favorable legislation was no problem. He would go on to sponsor a bill that not only stopped new centers from opening, but also carved out an exception for existing daycare-center operators to expand their businesses.
“I just need you to tell me what they want,” he said. “You can write down the language, basically what you want.” Information for this article was contributed by William K. Rashbaum of The New York Times.
Front Section, Pages 4 on 04/05/2013