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This belongs to you. Take it back...
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John Sweeney 
Fri Feb 26, 2010 at 19:25:09 PM EST
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Serial drunk driver and former NY-20 Rep John Sweeney pleaded guilty to a downgraded DWI charge, his latest, and is now looking at spending 30 days in the Saratoga County jail.
John Sweeney pleaded guilty to misdemeanor driving while intoxicated in Saratoga County Court today and faces 30 days in Saratoga County Jail when sentenced on April 23.
Sweeney, 53, the former 20th district U.S. representative, was arrested on April 5, 2009 by state troopers. He was traveling 59 mph in a 40 mph zone on Route 9 in Clifton Park and was drunk, police said.
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Sweeney's lawyer, E. Stewart Jones, said he and his client were satisfied with the outcome of the case.
"We just wanted to avoid a felony and we were able to do that," Jones said. Sweeney will keep his license to practice law.
He'll also have to wear some sort of device that monitors his drinking for a year. Apparently, if we were drink at all, it would be a probation violation.
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Mon Apr 06, 2009 at 17:48:10 PM EDT
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More details are emerging about the most recent drunk driving arrest of former NY-20 Rep. John Sweeney, the man who gave us Jim Tedisco as a congressional candidate. According to the arrest report, Sweeney refused to exit his BMW for sobriety tests. Then he started talking.
When ex-U.S. Rep. John Sweeney was stopped by state troopers early Sunday he refused to get out of his car for a roadside sobriety tests, according to court records.
He would not pass the sobriety test, Sweeney allegedly told the officers, adding he was in "big trouble.''
Documents filed in Clifton Park Town Court shed new light on Sweeney's drunken driving arrest - his second in 17 months - and what he told police who arrested him on a felony charge.
Sweeney, Rensselaer County's one-time STOP-DWI coordinator, was stopped at about 3:30 a.m. on Route 9 and charged with felony driving while intoxicated. The charge is a felony because of the prior arrest.
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rooper David Ennist said in his report that when he asked Sweeney for his license and registration a ''strong odor of alcoholic beverages was detected.''
When Ennist asked Sweeney where he was coming from, he responded ''his sister's, at which point it was observed he had slurred speech,'' Ennist wrote in the report.
Sweeney told troopers he was on his way home from a sister's house in Halfmoon where he said he drank three glasses of wine, according to the report.
After arriving at the State Police barracks, Sweeney was asked to take the chemical DWI test and said ''no,'' according to the report.
Lovely.
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Sun Apr 05, 2009 at 19:47:38 PM EDT
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Why does John Sweeney still have a license to drive? Sweeney was arrested yet again for driving drunk and this time it's a felony charge.
Former U.S. Rep. John Sweeney was arrested early this morning and charged with driving while intoxicated for the second time in 17 months.
At 3:30 a.m., Sweeney, 53, was stopped for speeding on Route 9 in Clifton Park, State Police said. He refused sobriety tests and was charged with felony DWI, police said.
Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said Sweeney will automatically lose his license for a year because he refused the breath and blood alcohol tests.
"We are fortunate that his alleged conduct did not result in death or serious physical injury to himself or anyone else," Murphy said in a prepared statement. "The case will proceed through the criminal justice system like any other."
Murphy said the charge is a felony because of Sweeney's prior DWI misdemeanor conviction.
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Sweeney, a former STOP-DWI coordinator in Rensselaer County, has made headlines a number of times in recent years after brushes with the law>.
-Em mine
So the man that voters in the 20th CD tossed in '06, and who has worked rather hard for Jim Tedisco to retake the seat, especially for getting Tedisco the nod in the first place, has gotten popped for drunk driving again. I have a feeling the people of the 20th are glad to be rid of him as a Congressman and are tiring of the shenanigans that seem to surround the guy.
The man is a menace.
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Mon Mar 23, 2009 at 13:15:52 PM EDT
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More of the same?
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Wed Jun 11, 2008 at 09:22:23 AM EDT
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Disgraced former Rep. John Sweeney is proving once again to be the gift that just keeps on giving as we learn more about the FBI raid on former state GOP chairman and current big-time lobbyist Bill Powers' office. It seems that the feds are looking into earmarks directed by Sweeney to entities in New York that also happened to be clients of Powers' firm, the same firm that also employed Sweeney's now ex-wife, Gayle. Oh, and it looks like convicted super lobbyist and Bush/Rove BFF, Jack Abramoff, may have dropped the dime on Johnny boy.
There's plenty of new info this morning. Let's start with the New York Times:
Lobbying Investigation Prompts Raid of Albany Firm
Federal law enforcement agents have raided the offices of an influential lobbying firm in Albany as part of the latest investigation connected to the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal in Washington.
The raid was part of an investigation of former Congressman John Sweeney, an Albany-area Republican with ties to Mr. Abramoff. During the raid on Friday, about 10 F.B.I. agents spent several hours collecting computers and files from the office of Powers & Company, the lobbying firm.
The company is run by the former chairman of the state Republican Party, William D. Powers. Mr. Sweeney's ex-wife, Gayle, worked for Powers & Company until early last year, and Mr. Powers was a longtime political patron of the congressman.
The Times Union has some juicy details:
A federal criminal investigation is focusing on the relationship of lobbyist William D. Powers and former U.S. Rep. John E. Sweeney in connection with a series of federal grants that were steered to Powers' clients, according to several people familiar with the probe.
The probe is being overseen by the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section in Washington, D.C.
Several people familiar with the case said it is centered on a period when Powers' clients received the earmarks while Sweeney's then-wife, Gayle, was working for Powers' Albany-based lobbying firm.
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Most of the lobbying work by Powers' firm involves state government, and several big-ticket clients, such as the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, which paid his firm $180,000 a year in 2005 and 2006, Sweeney's final two years in Congress.
Much more on the flip...
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Mon Jan 07, 2008 at 19:32:00 PM EST
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Quick! This person has no drivers license after being busted for drunk driving a couple of months ago (and driving with a 23 year old woman on their lap)so, I guess they have to cab it around these days. Problem is that this person apparently tried to stiff a cabbie for a ride home from a strip club two days after Christmas. The cops were called. Again. Is it disgraced former congressman John Sweeney or troubled pop star Britney Spears?
If you guessed Sweeney, please move to the head of the class!
Source: cops called after Sweeney cab ride
Former Rep. John Sweeney had another brush with the law recently. Sweeney narrowly avoided being charged with theft of services after refusing to pay a cab fare for a ride from a strip club.
A law enforcement source tells NewsChannel 13 that the former congressman summoned a cab for himself and two friends while at a club in Clifton Park early on the morning of Dec. 27. When the cab arrived, Sweeney wasn't ready to go. So he asked the driver to bring two of his friends home and come back and get him.
The source says Sweeney still wasn't ready to leave when the taxi returned. The driver waited 45 minutes and then Sweeney got in the car and the driver brought him to his Clifton Park home.
The source says Sweeney refused to pay the $80-plus cab fare. The cab company called police. State troopers showed up at the Sweeney home, but he didn't answer the door. The source says troopers called Sweeney's attorney and asked that Sweeney come to the barracks to be formally charged.
However, according to the law enforcement source, Sweeney's family brought payment and "something for the driver" to the cab company. The company then notified state police that they wanted to withdraw the complaint.
Stay classy, Johnny boy!
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Mon Nov 12, 2007 at 20:06:36 PM EST
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(Dude... - promoted by phillip anderson)
Saratoga County, NY, has been dominated by Republicans since forever, so naturally Saratoga Republicans have come to think they are above the law.
Which in some ways they are, but not when it comes to what NY law calls aggravated driving while intoxicated -- a relatively new kind of super-DWI reserved for those who are caught driving at .18 BAC (blood alcohol content) or higher, which is seriously drunk.
Two prominent Saratoga County Republicans -- former Congressman (and infamous Miami Mob Leader) John Sweeney and Ken Green, president of the GOP-connected Saratoga Economic Development Council -- were arrested early Sunday morning for aggravated DWI.
Thankfully, they didn't injure or kill anyone, but they were certainly quite drunk -- Sweeney blew .18, and Green topped that with his .22.
Details below.
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Sun Nov 11, 2007 at 18:54:27 PM EST
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Former NY-20 Congressman John Sweeney was arrested for driving drunk last night.
Former U.S. Rep. John Sweeney was charged with drunken driving early this morning after a traffic stop on the Northway, State Police said.
The arrest was the latest embarrassment for a one-time Congressional rising star whose re-election campaign was derailed last year by allegations of domestic violence.
Sweeney was pulled over by a state trooper on the Northway in Saratoga County at 1:20 a.m., police said.
Police said he was charged with driving while intoxicated.
He wasn't alone reports Liz.
Former Rep. John Sweeney was charged with aggravated DWI when he was pulled over by State Police early this morning on the Northway with a 23-year-old woman in his car, police told the Daily News.
Sweeney was driving northbound in his hometown of Clifton Park when he was arrested at 1:19 a.m., between exits 9 and 10.
State Police had no comment when asked the identity of the passenger in Sweeney's 2004 BMW sedan. Sweeney was also ticketed for driving erratically. A law enforcement source said Sweeney's car had been swerving and the woman was seated partially on his lap when Trooper Phillip Dickson first spotted him.
Nice.
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Sun Nov 11, 2007 at 17:46:44 PM EST
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(This really is a great idea. In fact, I would prefer this to earmarks. For everyone. - promoted by phillip anderson)
Kirsten Gillibrand, NY-20, has been off to an excellent start in Congress after defeating Miami Mob Leader John Sweeney, a four-term incumbent often mentioned as a possible statewide candidate, last year.
She has held more than 10 issues forums and more than 20 Congress at Your Corner meet-and-greet events, working at such events almost every weekend.
Her voting record is near-perfect, and her constituent service is top-notch.
In that regard, the Albany Times-Union has a story about her today that deserves wider attention.
Which it will get here.
Details, below, plus a bonus Miami Mob Leader update.
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