The Supreme Court on Thursday sided with a former aide of then-New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Joseph Percoco, who argued that a federal anti-bribery statute should not have been used to convict him.
The court’s opinion continues a recent trend of narrowing the government’s ability to prosecute defendants under certain public corruption statutes. In a separate case Thursday, the court also ruled in favor of a prominent Buffalo developer who was awarded a $750 million project to improve the city as part of an initiative put forward by Cuomo.
The man, Louis Ciminelli, was later convicted for taking part in rigging the bid process and property fraud. The justices reversed a lower court that had ruled against Ciminelli under a theory of law that the government later abandoned.
Both decisions were unanimous.
“They’re two additional data points of how hostile the current Court is to expansive interpretations of federal corruption and anti-bribery laws – and to aggressive white collar prosecutions by federal prosecutors,” said Steve Vladeck, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at the University of Texas School of Law.
“The stakes of these cases aren’t likely to be high, but the stakes of this broader pattern could be enormous – especially so long as Congress, which could clarify the reach of all of these statutes, continues to sit on the sidelines,” Vladeck added.
In recent years, the justices have narrowed the scope of the law in high-profile cases concerning Jeff Skilling, the former CEO of Enron, and former Virginia Gov. Robert F. McDonnell.
The Percoco case tested the scope of the “honest services” wire fraud statutes that make it a crime for public employees to defraud the government.
Percoco served as a senior aide to Cuomo from 2011 to 2016 except for several months in 2014 when he…
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