The U.S. Supreme Court reversed Joseph Percoco’s bribery verdict on Thursday. Percoco was a former advisor to former New York Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo. Federal prosecutors are subject to extra restrictions as a result of this ruling, which limits their ability to pursue corruption prosecutions.
Democrat Governor Andrew Cuomo’s executive deputy secretary Joseph Percoco won the top court’s support, according to Reuters. In 2016, charges against Percoco were brought as a result of a federal corruption investigation that targeted the state capital of Albany and sought to combat government corruption.
In Percoco’s case, Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court, the jury had to “determine whether he had a ‘special relationship’ with the government and had ‘dominated and controlled’ government business.” “We conclude that this is not the proper test for determining whether a private person may be convicted of honest-services fraud, and we, therefore, reverse and remand for further proceedings.”
In 2018, charges of soliciting $315,000 in bribes led to Percoco’s conviction and subsequent six-year prison term. Percoco allegedly provided assistance to two corporate clients of Albany lobbyist Todd Howe who were looking for state advantages and business prospects in exchange for the bribes.
With a 6-3 conservative majority, the Supreme Court has restricted prosecutors in political corruption cases once again with its decision on Thursday.
Justice Neil Gorsuch and Justice Clarence Thomas filed a concurring opinion in which they faulted Congress for crafting a regulation that was vague about what constituted honest services scams or corruption.
“Under our system of separated powers, the Legislative Branch must do the hard work of writing federal criminal laws. Congress cannot give the Judiciary uncut marble with instructions to chip away all that does not resemble David,” Gorsuch argued.
“Doubtless, Congress had high and worthy intentions when it enacted [the law]. But it must do more than invoke an aspirational phrase and leave it to prosecutors and judges to make things up as they go along. The Legislature must identify the conduct it wishes to prohibit. And its prohibition must be knowable in advance — not a lesson to be learned by individuals only when the prosecutor comes calling or the judge debuts a novel charging instruction. Perhaps Congress will someday set things right by revising
[the law] to provide the clarity it desperately needs. Until then, this Court should decline further invitations to invent rather than interpret this law.”
This is not the first time this has happened. In addition to the 2020 ruling to overturn the guilty verdicts of two of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie’s aides in the “Bridgegate” scandal, the 2016 decision to throw out the bribery conviction of Republican former Virginia Governor Robert McDonnell also serve as precedents, according to Reuters.
“The Supreme Court heard arguments in November in the case involving Percoco and a related one involving former construction company executive Louis Ciminelli. The Supreme Court also overturned Ciminelli’s conviction on Thursday,” the Reuters report stated, continuing:
Percoco was convicted alongside an executive at a real estate developer, Steven Aiello, who prosecutors said orchestrated bribes to Percoco. Howe pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators. Prosecutors said Percoco referred to the payments as “ziti,” a type of pasta that became a term for money by characters in “The Sopranos” mobster TV series.
At the time of the actions at issue, Percoco was no longer serving in government as Cuomo’s aide but instead managing the governor’s 2014 reelection campaign, a fact his lawyers said meant he could not be convicted of bribery.
“Percoco was convicted alongside an executive at a real estate developer, Steven Aiello, who prosecutors said orchestrated bribes to Percoco. Howe pleaded guilty and cooperated with investigators. Prosecutors said Percoco referred to the payments as “ziti,” a type of pasta that became a term for money by characters in “The Sopranos” mobster TV series,” Conservative Brief reported.
At the time of the actions at issue, Percoco was no longer serving in government as Cuomo’s aide but instead managing the governor’s 2014 reelection campaign, a fact his lawyers said meant he could not be convicted of bribery.
Defense lawyers contended that Percoco’s position as a private citizen meant that his acceptance of money with the intention of influencing the government did not constitute criminal behavior. Instead, they argued that he should be viewed as a lobbyist who was entitled to receive compensation for utilizing his influence.
Percoco’s conviction was upheld by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York in 2021 because it was determined that he had a stable job in Cuomo’s government after the election. The court came to the conclusion that Percoco had a duty to the public since he had significant influence over government choices throughout this time and thereafter.
President Barack Obama’s appointment of former Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara as lead prosecutor in the Percoco and Ciminelli prosecutions. Sheldon Silver, the former Assembly Speaker, and several well-known state lawmakers had been the targets of Bharara’s corruption investigations. Although Cuomo was not charged in connection with these cases, he resigned in 2021 as a result of a separate sexual harassment scandal, according to Reuters.
The “Buffalo Billion” effort, a $1 billion project aimed at rejuvenating the Buffalo, New York, area, was the focus of the Ciminelli case. Howe was a consultant hired to help with its execution.
Prosecutors allege that Ciminelli and executives from two other companies colluded with Howe and Alain Kaloyeros, who were in charge of managing the project’s funding applications. The report noted that the alleged conspiracy includes bidding manipulation with the goal of guaranteeing that contracts were given to their particular companies.
