Sheldon Silver’s extramarital affairs with two women are detailed in newly unsealed court papers released just weeks before the disgraced politician is set to be sentenced in his $5million corruption case.
The documents claim that one of the women ‘lobbied the defendant on a regular basis on behalf of clients who had business before the State’ and that Silver ‘used his official position to recommend a job with the State’ for the other women.
U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni agreed to unseal the documents on Thursday because she said she would be considering the reports of these affairs when sentencing Silver.
Silver was convicted in November of trading favors to enrich himself and then lying about it while Speaker of the New York State Assembly.

Caught: Sheldon Silver (above in November) had two extramarital affairs while serving as Speaker of the New York State assembly according to court documents

Investigators managed to record a private conversation between Silver and the lobbyist at one point during their affair.
During that conversation the woman ‘told the defendant that she urgently had been trying to see him because a reporter had called legislators inquiring about whether State legislators were having “affairs.”
Silver then tells the woman ‘I don’t think he caught us,’ but expressed concerns about the two getting caught after members of the press had asked for him to release his ‘travel and campaign finance records.’

 

 

In this same conversation the woman complains about the treatment she has been receiving from a member of Silver’s staff while she was lobbying the office on behalf of a client. The second woman was the only person recommended by Silver and his office for a job ‘over which he exercised a particularly high level of control.’He also had a second cell phone he used to communicate with that woman.
Didn’t Kasich get the tuxedo memo? GOP presidential…Silver is facing a lengthy prison sentence next month, and his defense had hoped that by pointing out his high moral character they might be able to get a reduced sentence for their client.
He could be sentenced to as much as 100 years behind bars.
His lawyers had tried to fight the release of these documents saying that could make it difficult for Silver if he were granted an appeal, but Judge Caproni did not agree saying ‘this otherwise personal and embarrassing conduct does, however, have public ramifications.’
The prosecution has originally planned to use their evidence of the affairs during Silver’s trial last year if any witnesses spoke about his character or if he took the stand, neither of which happened during the proceedings.
Silver served as leader of the state Assembly from 1994 through early 2015, losing his job following his arrest in January of last year.
Prosecutors said Silver traded his office for $4 million in kickbacks from a cancer researcher and real estate developers and earned an additional $1 million through investments.
Silver did not testify during his trial and called no witnesses.
Dr. Robert Taub told jurors he steered numerous patients with asbestos-related cancer to Silver’s law firm, enabling the legislator to pocket $3 million in referral fees.
Meanwhile, testimony and evidence revealed, Silver caused $500,000 in taxpayer funds to go to Taub’s research projects and helped his son and daughter get a job and an internship.
Prosecutors said Silver delivered tax-abatement and rent-control legislation that favored developers while big developers hired a small law firm that secretly sent him $700,000 in fees.

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