Assemblyman Boyland Acquitted

This afternoon, a Federal District Court jury in Manhattan acquitted Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. (D-Brooklyn) of bribery charges.

The trial was the second arising out of a broad corruption indictment issued in March that charged a total of eight people, including Boyland, State Senator Carl Kruger (D-Brooklyn), as well health care executives, a lobbyist and others.

One defendant, David Rosen, was convicted of bribery in September.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office said that Boyland’s consultant job at Brookdale Hospital in Brooklyn was a sham consulting agreement intended to cover up Boyland’s efforts to steer taxpayer money to the hospital.

Lawyers for the Assemblyman argued he was paid for community outreach work. They argued that there was no evidence presented that Boyland considered his pay to be a bribe, and there was no evidence that he took any official action on behalf of the hospital because of the payments.

Assemblyman Boyland was first elected in 2003. Had he been convicted, he could have faced up 25 years in prison and would have lost his Assembly seat.