(Laura Cavanaugh)
Facing potentially career-ending corruption charges, Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. fought back the only way he knew how — soliciting new bribes so he could pay the lawyers who battled the old bribe charges, federal officials said yesterday as they arrested him for the second time this year.
The boneheaded rob-Peter-to-pay-Paul bribe scheme even seemed to work at first — Boyland was surprisingly acquitted by a Manhattan federal jury this month in a crooked health-care kickback scheme.
But authorities said yesterday that Boyland, while out on bail after his March 10 arrest, sought more than $250,000 in bribes and accepted thousands of dollars in illicit payoffs in exchange for his promise to grease the wheels on local development projects.
In one exchange, recorded by an undercover fed posing as a developer, Boyland practically begs his new “partner” for a quarter-million dollars to help pay the lawyers defending him in the Manhattan case.
“I have legal fees for this thing,” Boyland tells the agent in a June 7 meeting. “I have to hire a good attorney.”
At that point, Boyland had already taken a $7,000 cash bribe, federal authorities in Brooklyn said yesterday. He had told the agents he needed the payment to “solidify some attorneys.”
He took that money after promising to smooth things over with local community boards and elected officials who would be needed to approve a real-estate development project in his district, according to court records.
Boyland on Nov. 10 was acquitted of the corruption charges related to an alleged no-show job from a health-care provider in Brooklyn and Queens.
The surprising not-guilty verdict came two months after former MediSys CEO David Rosen was convicted in the same court for bribing Boyland — along with state Sen. Carl Kruger and late Queens Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio — in return for them obtaining favors in the Legislature for Rosen’s hospitals.
All the while, according to authorities, Boyland between August 2010 and June 2011 solicited and accepted a steady stream of bribes from a cooperating-witness carnival operator and two undercover FBI agents, whom Boyland believed were out-of-state businessmen.
During a meeting in Atlantic City in April, the lawmaker was caught offering to arrange a deal for the phony businessmen to buy a hospital in his district at a discount and secure state funds for a renovation in exchange for $250,000, the complaint says.
“The extent of the charged corruption is staggering,” said US Attorney Loretta Lynch. “The defendant had a strong political legacy, the trust of his community and the privilege of serving it.
“Not content with these many benefits, the defendant is alleged to have auctioned the power of his seat in the Assembly to the highest bidder for his own personal gain and the potential detriment of the voters who elected him to office.”
Boyland, wearing a blue sweatsuit, was arraigned before Magistrate Judge Joan Azrack, who released him on $100,000 bond.
The legislator spoke softly during the hearing, and later declined to answer reporters’ questions about the charges.
His attorney, Michael Bachrach, promised to fight the case.
Asked if he plans to stay in office as his new criminal case approaches trial, Boyland nodded his head.