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The state’s former comptroller, Alan Hevesi, was sentened today to one to four years in prison.
Hevesi pleaded guilty to trading access to the state’s pension fund in exchange for favors and campaign cash. His lawyer pleaded for leniency, citing Hevesi’s long record of public service, and declining health. Hevesi was lead out of court in handcuffs.
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said: “Hevesi brazenly sold access to New York Pension Fund investments—a betrayal of the public trust that went to the heart of his duties as Comptroller. Today’s sentencing decision will help achieve my office’s principal objective of restoring New Yorkers’ faith in their state government.”
Governor Andrew Cuomo, who initiated the case against Hevesi while in the attorney general’s office, had said Hevesi oversaw a “culture of corruption.”
Today, Cuomo added: “Just as you cannot put a price on public integrity, you cannot quantify the harm done to the bond between the government and the People when public integrity is compromised. Hevesi was a statewide elected official who admitted violating his oath for personal and political gain, and we must continue to root out corruption wherever it may be found.”
