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Skelos, who was
convicted in December on extortion, fraud and bribe solicitation
charges, and his son, Adam Skelos, will be sentenced by U.S.
District Judge Kimba Wood in Manhattan.
Prosecutors are seeking a prison term approaching 12-1/2 to
15-2/3 years for Skelos, 68. They said he forced companies
lobbying for legislation or seeking a government contract to pay
his 33-year-old son hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Both men have denied wrongdoing and are expected to appeal their
convictions.
The proceedings come a week after another judge sentenced former
New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, long one of the
state's most powerful politicians, to 12 years in prison for
collecting millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks.
Their convictions represented major wins in a broad
anti-corruption campaign by Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet
Bharara, who has criticized Albany for having "one of the most
corrupt governments in the nation."
At least 14 New York state legislators have been convicted of
federal corruption-related crimes in the last 10 years,
prosecutors said, including John Sampson, a former leader of the
Senate Democrats who is set to be sentenced next week.
Prosecutors said Dean Skelos sought to use his position to
extract payments for Adam Skelos, bullying and threatening
companies that feared losing his support.
The companies, which have not been charged, included real estate
developer Glenwood Management, environmental technology company
AbTech Holdings Inc and malpractice insurer PRI.
Through those schemes, prosecutors said, the Skeloses sought
more than $760,000 in extortion payments, bribes, and gratuities
and ultimately obtained more than $334,000.
(Reporting by Nate Raymond in New York; Editing by Richard
Chang)
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