Hevesi pleads guilty to official misconduct charge

Former State Comptroller Alan Hevesi pleaded guilty Thursday to a felony official misconduct charge Thursday in connection with state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo's pay-to-play probe into the management of state pension fund investments.

Hevesi pleaded guilty to accepting travel expenses and $500,000 in campaign contributions from firms doing business with the state pension fund. He accepted a total of $1 million in benefits, according to court papers.

He faces up to 4 years in prison on the felony charge.

"I deeply regret my conduct and apologize to the people of New York," Hevesi told the court. He said nothing when he left the courtroom.

Hevesi controlled the pension fund until his resignation in 2006, when he pleaded guilty to a felony. He admitted using state workers to chauffeur his wife.

Prosecutors have said that Hevesi's former political adviser, Hank Morris, was at the heart of the scheme.

Morris has pleaded not guilty to corruption, securities fraud and other charges that were detailed in a 123-count indictment by Cuomo in March.

According to the indictment, Morris collected kickbacks to help steer billions of dollars in pension fund investments to favored companies.

Morris said the charges should be dismissed because he was involved in the "long-standing" practice of using political connections to obtain access to public assets and that it wasn't illegal, according to court papers.

The court papers also said Morris collected more than $15 million in fees from investment companies seeking to do business with the state pension fund and positioned himself as a collector for private equity and hedge funds seeking state business. Hevesi was the sole trustee of the state pension fund.

Morris' attorney, William J. Schwartz, has argued his client's actions did not financially damage the state and that Morris, as an outside political consultant, had no fiduciary duty to the pensioners.

Hevesi's 2006 resignation came after he pleaded guilty to a felony charge unrelated to the Morris indictment.

Earlier this month, Cuomo reached a million-dollar settlement with Bill White, a former president of the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York City who raised funds for Hevesi.

Cuomo said last month, White brokered investments worth several hundred million dollars for firms that paid him hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees. White wasn't licensed, as required.