Former Cuomo Aide Found Guilty in Corruption Trial

Yesterday, a federal jury in Manhattan found Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Governor Andrew Cuomo, guilty of three counts of corruption-related offenses. He was acquitted of three other charges. (Read the press release from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York here for the details, and the U.S. Attorney’s statement on the conviction here.)

The charges related to his soliciting and accepting more than $300,000 in bribes from executives working for two companies with state business.  Percoco’s lawyer said that Percoco may appeal the verdict.

Gov. Cuomo has not faced any claims of wrongdoing, but the lengthy trial shined a harsh light on the inner workings of the Executive Chamber. The Governor called the verdict “personally painful,” and called for putting “additional safeguards in place to secure the public trust.” He did not elaborate on which “additional safeguard” he might advocate for.

A coalition of good-government groups called on the Governor and the Legislature to enact a series of ethics reforms, including enacting strict “pay to play” restrictions on state vendors; closing the LLC loophole; limiting the ability of legislators and executive branch employees to earn income outside of their state work; increasing funding for the Authorities Budget Office; and ensuring the independence of the Joint Commission on Public Ethics and the State Board of Elections.

Read news coverage from the New York Times, the Albany Times Union, the State of Politics blog, the Syracuse Post-Standard, the Wall Street Journal, the NY Post, , the AP and Crain’s.