Paterson pays fine in Yankee ticket case

ALBANY - Cheap seats they weren't.

Former Gov. David A. Paterson has paid a $62,125 fine to end his case with the state ethics board over five tickets he solicited to Game 1 of the 2009 World Series.

Walter Ayres, spokesman for the Commission on Public Integrity, said the panel received the check Thursday. It was not a personal check from Paterson, but rather from the Paul Weiss law firm. Paterson's lawyer, prominent defense attorney Theodore "Ted" V. Wells Jr., is a partner at the firm.

The commission levied the fine in December after determining that Paterson's "testimony that he always intended to pay for the tickets was refuted by his staff, the Yankees, an independent handwriting expert and common sense."

Paterson had obtained the tickets for himself, his son, his son's friend and two staff members. He had claimed he performed a ceremonial role at the first game of the Yankees-Philadelphia Phillies series.

He didn't, and even if he did, the governor still wouldn't have been entitled to free tickets, the commission concluded. In addition, an independent investigation led by former state Chief Judge Judith Kaye found that the governor "at minimum" had given "inaccurate and misleading" testimony to the commission.

The fine covered the actual value of the five tickets, $2,125, and a $60,000 fine for violating three separate provisions of the state's Public Officer's Law.

Wells did not immediately return a call asking him to comment.