Disgraced former Brooklyn Sen. Carl Kruger is trading his tacky Mill Basin mansion for the Big House.
Kruger was sentenced to seven years in prison for taking $365,000 in bribes, much of which was spent paying the personal expenses of his “intimate associate” Michael Turano — and fixing up their gaudy love nest.
Before the sentence came down, Kruger pleaded for leniency.
“I am broken, destroyed and disgraced,” he said. “I have no one else to blame. This will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Prosecutors had been seeking a nine to 12 year sentence, but Manhattan Federal Judge Jed Rakoff agreed to knock off a few years citing his “many good deeds.”
But Rakoff said Kruger engaged in “extensive, long-lasting sustained bribery schemes that frankly were like daggers into the heart of honest government.”
Turano was expected to be sentenced later Thursday. The goverment is asking Rakoff to give him five years.
Earlier, Kruger’s lawyer pleaded for mercy in a pair of memorandums, arguing that he was not nearly as corrupt as other New York pols who were hit with less prison time.
“This was not the average bribery/political corruption case in which a venal politician tooks bags of cash, vacations or other personal benefits in exchange for official actions,” Benjamin Brafman wrote.
Kruger had “unblemished” record of service to the community until late in his 28-year political career, Brafman insisted.
Prosecutors say Kruger used his official position to benefit his bribe-payers: a lobbyist who sought legislation favorable to clients and hospital officials who wanted state funds and less restrictions on Medicare.
The 63-year-old politician has admitted taking the bribes to help pay for Turano’s lifestyle but insisted he lived with his sister and husband in Canarsie — not in Mill Basin with Turano, his brother and mother.
Prosecutors, however, say Kruger’s true home was at Chez Tacky with Turano and that he signed off on the renovations. They said Kruger was more than just a “father figure” to Turano.
No comments:
Post a Comment