| Now that everyone has some time to digest the complaint against Carl Kruger, there's a lot more information on what he and the others are accused of as well some more info on just what genuinely odd fellow Kruger is.
Unlike Bruno, Change In "Honest Services" Statute Unlikely To Derail Kruger Case (CHN)
Like Joe Bruno, Carl Kruger and William Boyland were charged by federal prosecutors with corruption and "theft of honest services." But while Bruno's conviction is being appealed after a Supreme Court ruling that many believe will lead to its overturning, experts familiar with both cases argue that Kruger is not likely to have the same legal grounds to push back.
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In Skilling vs. United States, the Supreme Court nullified certain applications of the "honest services" law, but left in place those applying to "bribery and kickbacks."
Federal prosecutors appear to be targeting Kruger on these exact charges, legal sources say.
"The Skilling decision specifically allowed prosecutors to continue to go forward on bribery cases and kickback cases," said one person close to the Bruno case. "That's exactly what Kruger is being charged with here."
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"Over the course of time, there were individuals involved in business and lobbying that basically had Senator Kruger on the payroll to do their bidding, while they were supposed to be serving the interest of the public," Bharara said, arguing that the pattern of abuse set Kruger apart.
Graft Charges Depict Kruger's Lavish Lifestyle (NYT)
But there was something unusual about Mr. Kruger. He rarely socialized with fellow senators, seemed uncomfortable in crowds, frequently took his lunch alone in the drab Capitol cafeteria and, in an age of ubiquitous cellphones, could be spotted whispering into public pay phones.
On Thursday, federal prosecutors unveiled a 53-page criminal complaint against Mr. Kruger, 61, that unlocked many of the mysteries of his life - but deepened others. It portrayed a man who had amassed at least $1 million in bribes in return for political favors: helping hospitals seeking to merge, obtaining state money for real-estate developers, expanding the business hours of liquor stores.
And it revealed, prosecutors say, that the seemingly measured senator was using the bribes to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, financing a four-door Bentley Arnage and a $2 million waterfront home originally built for a boss of the Luchese crime family.
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Despite listing his official residence as his sister's home on Avenue L in Mill Basin, Mr. Kruger had all but moved in with the Turanos in their 7,000-square-foot home, which towers over others in the neighborhood and features ostentatious sculptures of frolicking children and soaring seagulls.
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And it was Michael Turano, the complaint said, who established shell companies to conceal the bribes, and later used the money to finance the Bentley, pay credit card bills and make mortgage payments on the house. One of the accounts bore the name "Bassett," the name of the street on which they lived.
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He has also faced unusually intense criticism from gay rights activists for his 2009 vote against a Senate bill legalizing same-sex marriage. Activists traveled last year to the Turano residence and the Brooklyn home of Mr. Kruger's sister, protesting loudly and saying Mr. Kruger himself was gay. Mr. Kruger has said he is not gay.
Um, he's gay. Duh. (He was one of the "three men in a closet" who voted against marriage equality, by the way. He was the only Dem in that group. I'll leave it to you sort out who the other two were.)
Not sure what exactly his sexual orientation has to do with him likely being a crook, but the Post...goes there anyway.
Gay pol's $1 mil 'bribe' out-rage (NYP)
Closeted Brooklyn state Sen. Carl Kruger, a Democratic powerhouse, traded political favors for more than $1 million in bribes over the last five years -- which his live-in boyfriend helped launder, the feds charged yesterday.
Kruger and his secret longtime companion, Manhattan gynecologist Michael Turano, were among eight men arrested in a sweeping government "pay-to-play" corruption scandal.
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Neighbors said that Kruger clearly lived in the massive Mill Basin home owned by Michael Turano, while neighbors of Kruger's "official" residence in the Georgetown section of Brooklyn said either that they did not recognize him or that he was rarely, if ever, there. The feds, meanwhile, said Boyland accepted a no-show job that paid him $177,000 over five years from health-care provider MediSys in exchange for trying to secure millions of dollars in grants to its hospitals.
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The criminal complaint revealed that on Monday, FBI agents raided Lipsky's Upper West Side residence, where they found $102,000 in cash from a safe in a closet and $4,000 "in crisp, large denominational bills from the pocket of a suit belonging to Lipsky."
At about 9:54 a.m. that same day -- as the search was ongoing -- a call was made from Kruger's phone, which was tapped by authorities, to Lipsky's phone, the complaint said.
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"Immediately afterward," the complaint said, "26 calls were placed from the Kruger phone to the Lipsky phone every few minutes from approximately 9:55 a.m. to 12:25 p.m. These calls were unanswered."
Seven minutes after that last call -- and right after Kruger was told by a "known New York state political operative" that Lipsky had asked that Kruger stop calling him because the FBI was at his house -- Kruger called Michael Turano and told him about the raid, the complaint said.
"I suggest you don't answer the door until I find out more about what's going on," Kruger told Turano, the complaint said.
Busted. |
