Disgraced former Democratic state Se𝓰n. Malcolm Smith wanted so badly to become the next mayor of New York that he allied himself with equally crooked Republicans in a $20🍨0,000 scheme to buy his way onto the GOP line, a federal prosecutor charged Tuesday.
“Smith needed an edge — and he found one,” Assistant US Attorney Perry Carbone told jurors in opening rema💮rks in the White Plains federal court retrial of Smith (D-Queens) and former Queens GOP Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone.
“He thought he could avoid the primary and jump righ♌t into the general election. How did he do that? Bribes. He was not having any success whatsoever trying to do it the honest way,” Carbone said.
To get on the GOP line in the 2013 mayoral race, Smith — once one of the state’s top Democrats — needed the support of three of the five borough Republican committees. Queens was allegedly secured through Tabone and The Bronx through former Brꦍonx GOP Chairman Joseph “Jay” Savino.
Carbone called Tabone one of the men who “held the keys to that ballot” and alleged the political operꦑative was ready to give his up for a🐻 “fistful of cash.”
Smith, the feds say, turned to Moses Stern — a crooked Rockland County developer turned federal wit🐽ness — and an undercover federal agent for money and help pulling off the botched scheme. In turn, Smith allegedly promised them $500,000 in transportation funds for a project in S⭕pring Valley, NY.
Smith claims he’s a victim of entrapment.ไ His lawyer Evan Lipton told jurors ෴“the entire case is a government setup.”
Assemblywoman Diane Savino (D-Brooklyn/Queens), a longtime political ally of Smith who testified as the government’s opening witness, recalled for jurors how she thought it was “goof🀅y” that Smith wanted to run as a Republican because he was such a “well-known Democrat.”
Smith faces up to 45 years in prison, and Tabone faces up to 30 yꦺears.
A retrial was necessary after Judge Kenneth Karas declared a June mistrial when the feds failed to re🐬lease more than 92 hours of r🙈ecordings as evidence in a timely manner.
Another co-defendant, former City Councilman Dan Halloran (D-Queens), refused the mistrial and was convicted in July of pocketing $20,500 in cash bribes for acting as an intermediary who set up the cross-party negotiaܫtions.
At the time of the first trial, Smith was a state senator an🌼d seeking re-election. He lost the September primary and his 14 years in office ended Wednesday.