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Feds drop bribery case against ex-NY Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin
By
Jon Campbell
Published Jan 17, 2025
Modified Jan 18, 2025
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Photo by Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
By
Jon Campbell
Published Jan 17, 2025
Modified Jan 18, 2025
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Prosecutors dropped a federal bribery case against former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin on Friday, pointing to the death of the man who pleaded guilty to bribing him and was set to be a key witness in the case.
U.S. District Judge Paul Oetken granted a request from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan to halt the case, which came more than two years after Benjamin, a Harlem Democrat, was first charged.
“Based on a review of the evidence in the case, and in light of the death of cooperating witness and co-defendant Gerald Migdol, the Government has determined that it can no longer prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, the charged in the Indictment,” acting U.S. Attorney Edward Kim wrote.
Benjamin, a former state senator, was first arrested in April 2022 and resigned as lieutenant governor hours later, eight months after Gov. Kathy Hochul had appointed him to the role. Prosecutors accused Benjamin of steering a $50,000 state grant to a nonprofit organization controlled by Migdol, a real estate developer, in exchange for donations to Benjamin’s political campaigns.
Migdol, who pleaded guilty to bribery and fraud charges, was cooperating with prosecutors in Benjamin’s case when he died in February.
Since his indictment, Benjamin fought the case in court, winning a reprieve in December 2022 when Oetken dismissed the most serious bribery, fraud and conspiracy charges he faced. But it was short-lived; last year, a federal appeals court reinstated the charges and the Supreme Court declined to intervene.
But Migdol’s death raised questions about whether prosecutors would even proceed with the case against Benjamin, since it relied heavily on Migdol’s testimony. That led to Friday, when the U.S. Attorney’s office filed papers notifying the court it did not intend to present its case.
Benjamin maintained his innocence as his case weaved its way through the courts.
"Today’s vindication of Brian Benjamin is a timely reminder of the Reverend Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous words: 'The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice,'" his attorneys from the firm Gibson Dunn said in a statement Friday. "It has been a great honor to represent Brian and we always believed this day would come."
This story has been updated with comment from Benjamin's attorneys.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated the year of Benjamin's arrest.
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new york city
public safety
Politics
Jon Campbell
Jon Campbell covers the New York State Capitol for WNYC and Gothamist. Prior to that, he covered the Capitol for more than a decade for the USA TODAY Network. He has twice earned the Walter T. Brown Memorial Award, an honor given annually by the Legislative Correspondents Association alumni for outstanding state government coverage. Jon grew up in the Buffalo area and graduated from the University at Albany. Got a tip? Email Jon at [email protected] or Signal at JonCampbellNY.90.
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