Read it Yourself: The Indictment of Sheldon Silver

Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was indicted on Thursday by a grand jury for three counts of extortion and mail and wire fraud.

When Silver was arrested on Jan. 22, the complaint issued by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara accused Silver of using his position as Assembly speaker to amass millions of dollars in bribes and kickbacks disguised as legal payments for an outside job as a private attorney.

In the indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s office outlines the charges, which allege Silver received about $700,000 from referrals for real-estate interests and more than $3 million in payments from Weitz & Luxenberg by securing referrals of asbestos cases from a doctor.

It also alleges Silver “repeatedly took actions and used his official position to prevent the public, investigators, and others from learning about his corrupt arrangements.”

Legal experts told City & State in January that the case against Silver seems very strong.

This week, JCOPE also warned Silver that he may face a $120,000 fine for failing to disclose his outside income.

After his arrest, Silver was pressured to resign as speaker by his Democratic Conference and the Assembly later elected Carl Heastie as Assembly speaker. Silver stayed on as a rank-and-file assemblyman after serving as speaker for more than two decades.

Read the full 25-page indictment below:

Read it Yourself: U.S. vs Sheldon Silver by City & State NY