Filing names Jeff Klein in corruption case against ally

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Federal prosecutors mentioned State Sen. Jeff Klein for the first time in conjunction with their bribery case against his ally state Sen. Dean Skelos, although Mr. Klein is not accused of any wrongdoing.

A filing by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara alleges Mr. Skelos and his son Adam Skelos worked together to help a CEO get help on a traffic ticket from Mr. Klein, who is only identified as “Senator A” in the document. In a separate filing, Dean Skelos’ defense team identified that senator as “the leader of the Independent Democratic Conference.” Mr. Klein heads that group of breakaway Democrats, which co-ruled the Senate with Mr. Skelos and Republicans until last year. 

Mr. Bharara claims that after the CEO complained of a ticket for using a cell phone while driving, Adam Skelos said he could put the executive in touch with Mr. Klein, saying “[H]e’s helped me with speeding tickets before.” The New York Times identified the CEO as the head of the environmental tech company AbTech, which is at the center of the case against Dean and Adam Skelos.

During a later exchange, Dean Skelos allegedly told his son, “[C]all [Senator A] and tell him you have somebody — but, you know, the guy’s got to pay something.”

Mr. Klein did not answer an interview request for this article. But his spokeswoman Candice Giove gave Politico New York, which first reported on the filing, a statement saying, “There was no follow up to this conversation beyond Senator Klein instructing that his law firm be contacted to handle a traffic ticket. There was no further interaction between Mr. Klein, or his former law firm with the Environmental Technology Company or anyone associated with it.”

According to the filing, Mr. Skelos called Mr. Klein, who suggested the CEO get in touch with his law firm, Klein, Calderoni and Santucci. Mr. Klein, who has since disinvested from the firm, allegedly told Adam Skelos, “Well, I appreciate it. Well, thank you very much. Yeah, give him my number and I’ll see what I can do to help.”

While Mr. Bharara has not accused Mr. Klein of any wrongdoing, he is arguing that the conversations between Dean and Adam Skelos show  “evidence of the defendants’ joint attempt to cultivate the perception with the Environmental Technology Company that paying Adam Skelos bought the Company access to high-level officials in New York State.”

According to Capital New York, Dean Skelos’ lawyers are arguing that the communication over the CEO’s parking ticket has no relevance to the main case, which centers around allegations that AbTech employed Adam Skelos in order to land contracts in Nassau County.

The trial is expected to start later this month.

Jeff Klein, Dean Skelos, Adam Skelos, AbTech, corruption trial, Will Speros

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