On March 8, 2024, america Court docket of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued an opinion reversing the dismissal of the three high counts within the indictment of Brian Benjamin, New York’s then-sitting Lieutenant Governor: federal applications bribery (in violation of 18 U.S.C. §666(a)(1)(B)), trustworthy companies wire fraud (in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§1343 and 1346), and a conspiracy to commit these crimes. See, United States v. Benjamin, 95 F.4th 60 (2024). These bribery costs all stemmed from allegations that in alternate for marketing campaign contributions that Harlem actual property developer Gerald Migdol made to Benjamin’s unsuccessful marketing campaign for New York Metropolis Comptroller, Benjamin agreed to make use of, and did use, his energy as a sitting state senator in an effort to direct state funds to a non-profit group Migdol ran.
Choose J. Paul Oetken of the Southern District of New York had dismissed these counts earlier than trial, a step hardly ever taken in a federal legal case, on the bottom that the indictment didn’t even allege sure info that the federal government was legally required to show to be able to maintain the bribery claims. Particularly, Choose Oetken held that the indictment was inadequate on its face as a result of: a) it didn’t allege that there had been an explicitly acknowledged “quid professional quo” settlement between Migdol and Benjamin; and b) such an allegation (and finally proof) of an expressly acknowledged quid professional quo settlement was legally required in a case the place the alleged “quid,” which means the bribe cost, was a marketing campaign contribution. Choose Oetken additionally held that in non-campaign contribution instances, against this, proof (and due to this fact an allegation) of an expressly acknowledged quid professional quo settlement was not required; as a substitute, in non-campaign contribution instances proof of the mandatory quid professional quo settlement may as a substitute be inferred by the jury from proof of all of the info and circumstances earlier than it.
