Preet Bharara to headline Timothy Sini fundraiser

Former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, who has already endorsed Suffolk Police Commissioner Timothy Sini for district attorney, is now planning to headline a fundraising event next month for Sini at the law office of his campaign chairman, David Kelley.

The event is scheduled for Sept. 18 at the Dechert law office in Manhattan, with tickets starting at $250 and sponsor levels ranging from $1,000 to $10,000. Kelley said Sini will not attend the fundraiser. State law bars police commissioners and officers seeking elected office from being involved in fundraising for their campaigns.

Bharara successfully prosecuted former Democratic Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Republican State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos on corruption charges, but a federal appeals court later over turned the Silver conviction, saying the judge’s jury instructions were overly broad given a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling. The Skelos case is also being appealed. Prosecutors say they will retry Silver’s case.