NEW YORK CITY — Former State Sen. Malcolm Smith was sentenced to seven years in prison Wednesday for a scheme to bribe Republican leaders into helping him win the party's nomination for mayor, federal prosecutors said.
Smith bribed City Councilman Dan Halloran, Bronx Republican party chief Joseph Savino and vice chairman of the Queens Republican party Vincent Tabone in exchange for clearance to run for mayor as a Republican, prosecutors said. He authorized bribes totaling $110,000 to the men, including $25,000 to Tabone.
Smith also promised to use his influence to help a cooperating witness and an undercover FBI agent posing as a wealthy developer win $500,000 in state transportation funding if they paid the bribes to Republican Party leaders.
“By attempting to buy and sell a spot on New York City’s Mayoral ballot, Malcolm Smith and Vincent Tabone corrupted one of the most fundamental tenets of the democratic process, that candidates cannot bribe their way onto a ballot," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.
"Today’s sentences make clear that the cost of violating the public trust in this way will be measured in years in a federal prison," he added.
Tabone was sentenced to 3 1/2 years in prison Wednesday afternoon and ordered to pay $25,000 for bribery and witness tampering, prosecutors added.
Tabone attempted to prevent the former chairman of the Queens Republican Party from testifying against him by showing up at his home an hour before a planned deposition with federal prosecutors.
Smith had been elected to represent the 14th Senatorial District in Queens in 2000, and led the Senate's Democrats after they took control in Albany for the first time in four decades in 2008.
He then broke off to caucus with a group called the Independent Democratic Conference, who were aligned with Republicans.
Smith then hoped to escalate his ambitions to citywide office, but wanted to avoid a tough Democratic primary — against Bill de Blasio and Christine Quinn, among others — by becoming the mayoral nominee of the Republican Party.
Political observers found Smith's decision to bribe his way onto the ticket even more puzzling given the long odds that the scheme would actually work.
A judge sentenced Halloran to 10 years in prison for his role in the scheme in March, longer than federal probation officials recommended. Savino pleaded guilty but has not been sentenced.
Smith must surrender to federal authorities by Sep. 21 and Tabone must turn himself in by Oct. 1.
