NEW YORK — A lawyer for former Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin called the corruption case against his client “flimsy” Monday as the feds revealed they’d seized his cellphone and issued hundreds of subpoenas.
Benjamin, 45, pleaded not guilty last week to steering $50,000 in state funds to a nonprofit, Friends of Public School Harlem, in exchange for fraudulent contributions to his unsuccessful bid for city comptroller.
He was released on $250,000 bail Tuesday and announced his resignation from office.
Facing corruption charges that carry a maximum of 55 years in prison, Benjamin has lawyered up. He hired attorney Barry Berke, who represented former New York Mayor Bill de Blasio in a federal probe of his fundraising practices.
Berke argued the indictment described standard conduct in Albany politics.
“This case is an unprecedented attempt to criminally charge an upstanding state leader for routine fundraising and support of a non-profit providing needed resources to Harlem public schools,” Berke said in a statement.
“We have decided to represent Brian Benjamin because we are shocked and dismayed that the prosecution would bring such flimsy and unwarranted charges against a sitting Lt. Governor, so close to the primary election.”
Prosecutors, meanwhile, detailed a voluminous amount of information that will be turned over to the defense.
Just six days after the arrest, prosecutors with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s Office have already turned over 160,000 pages of documents to Benjamin’s team. They’ve executed 160 subpoenas, seven search warrants and seized Benjamin’s cellphone, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors called Benjamin’s alleged scheme a classic “quid pro quo.”
Berke countered that the case was “different” from other political bribery because Benjamin received “no personal benefits.”
At the center of the case is Benjamin’s political ally, developer Gerald Migdol, who was charged in November with facilitating the phony donations.
Benjamin remained silent as he left Manhattan federal court and slipped into a waiting SUV.
His next court date before Judge Paul Oetken is May 12.
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