“The rulings that would be in favor of the defendants could potentially make it difficult for prosecutors to charge individuals for cases such as wire fraud and would limit the prosecutors’ ability to pursue certain kinds of bribery cases, according to former federal prosecutor Jaimie Nawaday.
Then-US Attorney Preet Bahara brought the charges against Percoco and Ciminelli back in 2016, leading to scrutiny of Cuomo’s administration despite not being charged himself. Cuomo eventually resigned in 2021 over an unrelated sexual harassment case. Percoco was convicted in 2018 on bribery-related charges for seeking $315,000 in bribes in exchange for helping two corporate clients of Albany-based lobbyist Todd Howe to receive state benefits and business.
Howe eventually pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators, and Percoco was convicted along with real estate developer Steven Aiello at the time. Prosecutors said Aiello was the one who orchestrated bribes to Percoco.”
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EconoTimes 29 November 2022.