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U.S. Supreme Court partially wipes out former Gov. Cuomo aide’s corruption conviction
By
Jon Campbell
Published May 11, 2023
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By
Jon Campbell
Published May 11, 2023
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The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of one of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s closest aides on Thursday morning, clearing the way to at least partially overturn his 2018 conviction on fraud and bribery charges.
In a 9-0 decision, the nation’s high court found Joseph Percoco’s conviction on a fraud charge should be thrown out, in part because Percoco was not on the state payroll at the time he took $35,000 in payments from a Syracuse-area developer that leaned on him for governmental help.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the ruling would vacate Percoco’s entire three-count conviction, or just the single honest-services fraud charge that was the focus of his appeal. The court sent the case back to U.S. District Court Judge Valerie Caproni for further action — which could allow for a potential retrial.
In a statement, Percoco's attorney Yaakov Roth said the prosecution was an “abuse of the federal fraud statutes.”
“It blurred the fundamental line between private citizens and public officials,” Roth said. “We are gratified that the Court agreed with our position that he was not a public official during the relevant time period, and so he did not violate federal law by action on behalf of private clients.”
Percoco, 54, spent years as one of Cuomo’s closest confidants. His government title was executive deputy secretary, and he served as Cuomo’s political campaign manager. But that undersold his influence in Cuomo’s orbit, with the former governor describing him as a brother.
In 2018, he was convicted of accepting more than $300,000 in bribes — including the $35,000 from COR Development, whose top boss leaned on Percoco for favors, which included convincing a state agency to relax a project labor agreement for a COR project.
But Percoco argued COR’s money didn’t amount to a bribe since he was managing Cuomo’s re-election campaign at the time of the payment and wasn’t technically a government employee, despite maintaining a desk in the governor’s New York City office.
The prosecution’s case relied on the idea that Percoco did not have to be a government employee to defraud the public of his honest services, in large part because he maintained enormous sway in Cuomo’s administration. But the Supreme Court ruled Caproni erred in not properly making the distinction between public and private work when she instructed the jury before their deliberations.
Roth said it’s “TBD” whether the court’s ruling will require a second trial for Percoco’s other two convictions, bribery and conspiracy charges that focused on $287,000 in alleged bribes — disguised by a no-show job for Percoco’s wife — from an energy company while Percoco was on the state payroll.
In a related ruling on Thursday, the Supreme Court also cleared the way to vacate the conviction of Buffalo-area developer Louis Ciminelli, who was found guilty of participating in a scheme to rig the bid for lucrative contracts awarded under Cuomo’s signature “Buffalo Billion” economic development program.
The court found the prosecution’s “right to control” theory, under which Ciminelli was convicted, was unconstitutional. That theory allows for a property fraud conviction if someone has deprived a victim of “complete and accurate information” when making an economic decision. In Ciminelli's case, the prosecution claimed he defrauded a state-aligned board that awarded contracts for Buffalo Billion projects.
The decision could clear the way for the lower courts to vacate the convictions of Ciminelli’s co-defendants in the case, including former SUNY Polytechnic Institute President Alain Kaloyeros.
In a statement, Cuomo spokesperson Rich Azzopardi said he is “happy for Joe and his family.” He claimed the ruling was evidence of a “political vendetta” by the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office then led by Preet Bharara, which initially brought charges against Percoco and the Buffalo Billion defendants in 2016.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, declined comment. Bharara couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Percoco was originally sentenced to six years in prison. He was released from a halfway house last month, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Tagged
new york state
Politics
andrew cuomo
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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