He’s going on trial for tax evasion this time around, but the feds want jurors to learn all about the corruption of crooked ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr.
In court papers, prosecutors say they should be allowed to show how the Bronx Democrat and his son scammed hundreds of thousands of dollars from their nonprofit Soundview medical clinics to pay for “lavish parties” and other personal expenses. “Evidence of these schemes is intertwined with evidence of the defendants’ willful commission of the charged [tax] crimes,” the Manhattan federal-court filing says.
“Also, an understanding of those schemes establishes the context in which the preparation and filing of the tax returns charged in the indictment took place.”
The Espadas’ tax-fraud trial is set for Nov. 5. Espada already faces 40 years in the slammer after being convicted of four counts of theft in Brooklyn federal court, where he and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, face a retrial on charges that a jury couldn’t decide. The son’s public defender, Sabrina Shroff, didn’t return a request for comment.
The elder Espada’s lawyer, Daniel Hochheiser, said he would respond to the feds’ arguments in court papers due next month, but declined to elaborate.