Bribery and fraud costs in opposition to former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin had been tossed out Monday by a federal decide, leaving Benjamin to face solely data falsification costs and prompting his legal professionals to say it was tragic that the case was ever introduced.
Decide J. Paul Oetken issued an opinion saying prosecutors did not allege an specific instance wherein Benjamin offered a favor for a bribe, a necessary component of bribery and trustworthy companies fraud costs.
Benjamin, a Democrat, resigned after his arrest final April. He pleaded not responsible to costs that he had obtained marketing campaign contributions from an actual property developer in trade for his affect to get a $50,000 grant of state funds for a nonprofit group the developer managed.
Benjamin's arrest created a political disaster for Gov. Kathy Hochul, a fellow Democrat who selected him to function second-in-command when she turned governor following a sexual harassment scandal that had pushed her predecessor, Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo, from workplace.
On the time of his arrest, Benjamin's legal professionals issued an announcement saying they deliberate to point out the courts that their shopper's actions had been laudable quite than against the law.
On Monday, attorneys Barry Berke and Dani James mentioned in an announcement that the ruling "reveals how these wrongful costs so harmed Mr. Benjamin and unfairly price him his place as Lt. Governor."
"Whereas right this moment is a good day for justice, democracy and the rule of legislation, it's tragic that this case was ever introduced and such a call was crucial," they mentioned.
"From the very starting, we mentioned we're shocked and dismayed that the prosecution would deliver such flimsy and unwarranted costs primarily based on nothing greater than routine fundraising and help of a non-profit offering wanted sources to Harlem public colleges," the attorneys mentioned.
They wrote that Benjamin was "grateful for his vindication and appears ahead to new alternatives to serve the individuals of New York and his Harlem neighborhood."
A spokesperson for prosecutors declined remark.
Benjamin was the state's second Black lieutenant governor. Throughout a state Legislature profession that started in Might 2017, he emphasised felony justice reform and reasonably priced housing. His district included most of central Harlem, the place he was born and raised by Caribbean immigrant mother and father.
In tossing out the primary three costs in a five-count indictment, the decide wrote that appeals courts, together with the U.S. Supreme Courtroom, have made clear that proof of a promise was essential to help felony costs when funds are made within the type of marketing campaign contributions.
The decide mentioned he additionally agreed with a separate protection argument that the info alleged within the indictment, even when true, fail to ascertain felony legal responsibility. He famous that the federal government's timeline of occasions present that there was no settlement between the Benjamin and the developer on the time Benjamin procured the $50,000 in state funding.
The fees that had been left intact allege that Benjamin knowingly made a false entry in a file with the intent to impede an investigation.