Seminerio Pleads to Using Seat In $1M Shakedown

ANTHONY SEMINERIO: Bound for other side of bars.

Anthony Seminerio, a former Correction Officer who served as an Assemblyman for 30 years until recently resigning, pleaded guilty June 26 to receiving improper payments totaling $1 million from people and groups who did business with the State of New York.

He is the second former state lawmaker from Queens to be in the spotlight in the last two months for gross misuse of his office. Brian McLaughlin, the former city labor leader and Assemblyman, was given a 10-year jail sentence for stealing $3 million from unions and other groups. Mr. McLaughlin was a cooperating witness with the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan in introducing Mr. Seminerio to an undercover FBI agent who offered him payoffs to help advance the business interests of his "clients" in Albany.

Helped Reduce Sentence

At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan said that had it not been for Mr. McLaughlin's help in the investigation of Mr. Seminerio, he would have given him 15 years in prison instead of 10.

According to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District, Mr. Seminerio received $1 million in payments from hospitals, marketing firms and consulting groups that did business with the state.

Mr. Seminerio was accused of accepting $25,000 from the undercover operative in exchange for brokering meetings with top legislators in both the Assembly and the Senate who were in a position to help those clients. The former Assemblyman was accused of using Marc Consultants, a firm that shared his home address, as a conduit for the improper payments, $310,000 of which allegedly came from an unidentified hospital and another $80,000 from a Medicaid-managed health-care plan that was affiliated with the hospital.

In Business for Himself

"Instead of using his office to help New Yorkers, Anthony Seminerio used his office to help himself," Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Lev Dassin said in a statement. "[He] was caught red-handed violating the law and the public's trust by taking hundreds of thousands of dollars in corrupt payments. Today's guilty plea marks another significant step in our on-going effort to combat public corruption."

As an Assemblyman, Mr. Seminerio was known to ruffle the feathers of his fellow Democrats. A former executive board member of the Correction Officers Benevolent Association, he was outspoken and a reliable conservative who endorsed the candidacies of two prominent Republicans: Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Governor George E. Pataki.

Mr. Seminerio faces up to 20 years in prison, having pleaded guilty to one count of honest services mail fraud. Sentencing will be held on Oct. 20.