A federal grand jury indicted New York State Sen. Dean Skelos (R-Rockville Centre) and his son, Adam, on additional allegations of extorting $100,000 from a company that lobbied the lawmaker, authorities said.
Dean and his son were indicted Thursday on charges of extortion, conspiracy and soliciting bribes. They were previously arrested and pleaded not guilty to similar charges in Manhattan federal court.
The indictment alleged father and son secured “over $100,000 in payments and health benefits from a medical malpractice insurer who provided Adam Skelos with a no-show job while actively lobbying Dean Skelos on legislative matters.”
The senator was forced to resign his post as senate majority leader following his arrest, but has no plans to vacate the seat he has held for 31 years. State Sen. John Flanagan (R-East Northport) replaced him as senate leader.
As the Press has reported, Dean and his son have been accused of using the senator’s influence to help AbTech Industries secure a Nassau County contract in exchange for monthly payments to Adam. They also allegedly solicited bribes from a real estate firm.
Aside from the change in senate leadership, the allegations have also sparked Nassau prosecutors to review the county contract procurement process. Two weeks after Skelos’ arrest, County Executive Ed Mangano reportedly issued orders mandating lobbying disclosures on county contracts.
The arrest came months after state Assemb. Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) also pleaded not guilty to federal corruption charges that forced him to resign his leadership post. The arrests are a part of an ongoing federal investigation into political corruption in the state capital in Albany.
