Former State Senator Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison

I neglected to do a post on this story when it happened on April 26^th, but former Senator Carl Kruger has been sentenced to seven years in federal prison after pleading guilty to accepting bribes last December.  Kruger was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit $223,534.

Kruger faced a sentence of up to 50 years.  He was first elected to the State Senate in 1994.  In 2009, he became chair of the Senate Finance Committee.  He admitted to accepting more than $1 million in bribes from two hospital executives, a prominent lobbyist and a health care consultant and in return he took official actions to benefit them or their clients.  A co-conspirator, Dr. Michael Turano, was also sentenced to two years in prison and to forfeit $223,534.

Judge Jed Rakoff ordered both men to surrender to prison authorities on June 26.

Read the U.S. Attorney’s press release here.