NEW YORK _ Sheldon Silver, once one of New York's most powerful politicians, was sentenced to seven years in federal prison Friday for a scheme that put $4 million in illicit legal fees in his pocket.
Silver, 74, sat slouched as Manhattan Federal Judge Valerie Caproni delivered her sentence.
"He is exactly what too many people think all politicians are. And that is deeply corrupt," Caproni said. "This crime is driven by unmitigated greed."
It was the second time Silver stood before Caproni to be sentenced to prison. In May 2016, after his first trial, Caproni sentenced Silver to 12 years.
"The last three years have been enormously difficult for me," Silver said, asking for mercy.
"The events that are outlined in these trials have brought a great distrust in New York government. I am extremely remorseful for that."
This time, the feds asked Caproni to sentence him to a term "substantially in excess" of 10 years.
In a letter to Caproni, Silver said he didn't want to spend his remaining days behind bars.
"I pray I will not die in prison," he wrote in the July 19 letter.
Silver was first elected to the Assembly in 1976 from a district that includes the Lower East Side _ where he has lived his whole life _ as well as the Financial District and much of Chinatown. He became Assembly speaker in early 1994, and kept that job for 21 years until his arrest in early 2015.
Nearly all that time, Silver collected referral fees from childhood pal Jay Arthur Goldberg's law firm in return for getting the firm tax appeal work from two major Manhattan real estate developers. Prosecutors said that scheme netted Silver nearly $1 million.
In 2002, Silver joined the Weitz & Luxenberg law firm, and soon began referring as clients people sick with mesothelioma, a deadly cancer that results from asbestos exposure.
Weitz & Luxenberg gave Silver a cut of the fees it earned from the lucrative cases, which prosecutors said added up to about $3 million.
Silver got the names of mesothelioma patients from Robert Taub, a Columbia University researcher.
In return, Silver steered Taub's research clinic $500,000 from New York taxpayers.
Under federal law, by taking the fees Silver deprived New Yorkers of his "honest services as an elected legislator and as speaker of the Assembly." He was also convicted of fraud.
Silver's first conviction, in November 2015, was overturned by a federal appeals court a year ago. His second trial, held over two weeks in April and May, led a jury to convict him of all charges after one day of deliberation.
