Ex-NY Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver: I Will Be Vindicated After Trial

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Former New York state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver says he believes he will be vindicated after his corruption trial.

Silver made the remarks Wednesday after leaving a conference at Manhattan federal court.

His trial is scheduled to start Nov. 2. The 71-year-old Democrat was arrested in January on charges that he collected $4 million in kickbacks by abusing his powerful legislative position.

He has pleaded not guilty.

Silver stepped down from his speaker post after his arrest, but he continues to hold his legislative seat while fighting the charges. First elected in 1976, he represents a district on Manhattan's Lower East Side, where he was born and raised.

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