According to media reports, former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is dead.
He was 77. Silver was serving time at a Massachusetts federal prison on corruption charges. Just two weeks after being re-elected in 2015, Silver was arrested after a federal probe of his outside income. Investigators said Silver did not properly report income received from a company that specialized in seeking tax reductions for New York City real estate developers. Silver resigned as speaker January 30, 2015. In April of that year, he was further charged with making illegal investments that netted him $750,000.
On November 30, 2015, he was found guilty on seven counts, leading to his automatic expulsion from the Assembly. After a Supreme Court decision in a corruption case involving former Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell, Silver’s conviction was overturned. In 2018, he was retried on the same charges, found guilty again and was sentenced to concurrent 12 and ten year federal prison terms.
Silver became Speaker on the death of his predecessor, Saul Weprin in 1994. He served through 2015 and became known as one of the most powerful and feared politicians in the state.
More on this story as it becomes available.
