Lawmakers Taped In Corruption Probe Named
NEW YORK (WCBS 880/AP) -- The other elected officials former State Sen. Shirley Huntley recorded for federal authorities have been revealed.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed Wednesday, Huntley made recordings of several state senators. Malcolm Smith of Queens and John Sampson of Brooklyn, two of those recorded, have already been charged with crimes including bribery and embezzlement, WCBS 880's Irene Cornell reported.
State Senators Eric Adams, Ruth Hassel-Thompson, Jose Peralta, Malcolm Smith, Velmanette Montgomery, John Sampson, and New York City Councilman Rubin Wells are named as having been recorded in the document. Unelected persons recorded include Melvin Lowe, a "former political consultant and associate of New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman," and Curtis Taylor, Smith's former press advisor, according to the memorandum.
Lawmakers Taped In Corruption Probe Named
"[Huntley] advised [the FBI] that she had knowledge of what she believed to be corruption involving public officials," according to the document.
Prosecutors revealed eight of the nine people Huntley taped are under criminal investigation, Cornell reported.
"My attorney has been in contact with federal law enforcement authorities and he has been informed that I am not the target of any investigation arising from proceedings involving Shirley Huntley," said Councilman Wills. "I have personally not been contacted by any law enforcement officials to date and I look forward to continuing the work of the people of southeast Queens that elected me."
Huntley made videos and tapes of meetings with them at meetings in her home during the summer of 2012, according to the document.
The names were released Wednesday over the objections of prosecutors.
Huntley is scheduled to be sentenced on Thursday after pleading guilty to mail fraud conspiracy last winter. The Queens Democrat admitted embezzling nearly $88,000 from a state-funded nonprofit she controlled.
The government revealed last week that she made the recordings in a bid for leniency.
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