Jury Deliberates Corruption Case of Former Cuomo Aide

By KURTIS RATTAY

The jury began deliberations on Thursday in the corruption case against Joseph Percoco—former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo—who is accused of taking more than $300,000 in bribes in exchange political influence.

The deliberations mark the beginning of the end for a bizarre six-week trial during which the government’s star witness and former Albany lobbyist, Todd Howe, was jailed on felony charges. The defense argued the alleged bribes were actually acts of friendship between old fishing buddies. And to top it all off , the alleged bribes were code-named “ziti” in emails between Percoco and Howe, a reference to the Mafioso series “The Sopranos” in which payoffs were coded by the pasta’s name.

“You are being played hook, line and sinker,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Janis Echenberg during closing arguments to the jury, reminding them that Percoco and Howe’s relationship based on the “fondness for fishing” was no defense against bribery. “Like every fishing story, the more you talk about it, the bigger the friendship becomes.”

Howe allegedly facilitated bribes between Percoco and the three co-defendants accused of bribing him. He has cooperated with government prosecutors after pleading guilty to eight felonies, presumably in exchange for a lighter sentence.

The problems faced by the government’s star witness and his arrest during the trial have led his lawyers to curtail their defense and boosted their confidence that the prosecution’s case was weak, said courtroom observers. During cross-examination, Howe admitted he tried to defraud his credit card company, which broke the terms of his deal with prosecutors that he would keep clean.  He is being held in jail.

The defendants’ “best defense is to make you focus on Howe” and to “forget the evidence against the defendants,” Echenberg said. “See the defense arguments for what they are. They are asking for a free pass.”

Percoco allegedly accepted hundreds of thousands of “ziti” from his three co-defendants in exchange for favors regarding Competitive Power Ventures who wanted to build a power plant in Hudson Valley, and upstate developers COR Development, who were seeking state contracts.

“They like this ‘ziti,’” Percoco’s attorney Barry Bohrer said to the jury on Wednesday. “But it’s not the language of criminals just because someone watches the Sopranos and picks up language from the Sopranos. Millions of people would be wearing jumpsuits.”

Percoco received payment through a $90,000-a-year salary paid to Lisa Percoco, his wife, U.S. Attorney’s said. According to prosecutors, Lisa Percoco’s job itself—which they implied she never actually worked—was in exchange for the favors or “official action.”

Although Joseph Percoco was a former top aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the governor is not charged with any crimes.