Keeler: Albany's corruption parade goes on

Monday October 1, 2012 6:23 PM By Bob Keeler

Photo credit: AP, 2010 | Sen. Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y.

The corruption parade in Albany goes on--and shows no signs of ending soon. Now lobbyist Richard Lipsky has been sentenced to three months in prison--a very light term--for political corruption.

By comparison, former Sen. Carl Kruger, the figure at the heart of the case, drew a seven-year sentence. True, Lipsky is not a public official, but that doesn't seem to have been the major reason why U.S. District Court Judge Jed Rakoff gave him a break.

In sentencing him for bribery, Rakoff made it clear that his lenience is a direct result of Lipsky's cooperation with investigators.

This news can't fall happily on the ears of legislators and others who may be in the crosshairs of the continuing investigation, which has already spread well beyond Kruger, former chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee.

Every case that comes along from Albany these days seems to raise the question: Is this the last smelly situation to surface, or just a harbinger of more soon-to-be-disclosed political perfidy?

Now that we know Lipsky has been cooperating, the answer seems clear: Before too long, look for more evidence of Albany corruption to show up in court. 

Pictred above: Former state Senator Carl Kruger, D-Brooklyn, in the Senate Chamber at the Capitol in Albany, N.Y.

Tags: carl kruger , richard lipsky , corruption , albany , new york