PHOTO BY TEQUILA MINSKY
Silver is swarmed by the press after his second sentencing.
Silver gets seven
SILVER continued from p. 4
sure forms after an exposé in the
New York Post.
For more than a decade, Weitz
& Luxemberg reportedly paid
him $120,000 as an attorney
“of counsel,” plus the aforementioned
referral fees.
In 2017 a three-judge state
Appellate Division panel of
the Second Circuit overturned
Silver’s fi rst conviction. They
stated that Caproni had failed to
instruct the jury on a narrower
defi nition of corruption charges
against public offi cials, in light
of a U.S. Supreme Court ruling
vacating a conviction for public
corruption against former Virginia
Governor Bob McDonnell
and his wife.
Throughout his legal battles,
Silver has remained free
on bond. It’s not entirely clear
whether he will be granted bail
should he appeal his case.
“Judge Caproni did not grant
him bail pending appeal,” said
Ron Kuby, the prominent criminal
defense attorney. “She gave
him a voluntary surrender date
when he has to appear. If bail
pending appeal is granted, it will
have to be by the Second Circuit.”
Kuby noted that getting bail
under those circumstances
would be an arduous undertaking.
“He would have to demonstrate,
by clear and convincing
evidence, that he is not a fl ight
risk and that his appeal raises a
substantial legal or factual issue
that is likely to result in the conviction
being reversed,” Kuby
said. “He was able to demonstrate
that in the fi rst case,”
Kuby said, referring to Mc-
Donnell’s case in the Supreme
Court.
“I think it is going to be a
much harder task this time,” he
offered. “While he will be free
during his High Holy Days, 50 /
50 that he will spend Chanukah
behind bars.”
Paul Hovitz, a retired specialeducation
teacher and vice chairperson
of Community Board
1, has lavished praise on Silver
over the years for his work on
overcrowded schools and getting
new ones built. He said his reaction
to Silver’s second sentence
is one of sadness.
“I think it’s very sad that what
will be remembered was bad and
not what was so right in all of the
positive things that Shelly Silver
accomplished,” he said. “This is
a sentence for a guy who’s older
than me who has done so much
for his constituents. I think
Dr. Taub would have gotten
those grants without Shelly,” he
added.
At the same time, he added,
while talking on his cell phone
en route to a C.B. 1 meeting, “He
should have known better. It was
a mistake Shelly made in deriving
any benefi t from the fi rm he
was connected to.”
Hovitz believes that Silver is a
casualty of an “ambitious prosecutor,”
referring to former U.S.
Attorney Preet Bharara, “coming
at a time when there is very little
trust for political fi gures, and it
was exacerbated by what’s going
on in Washington, D.C, and in
this country.”
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