He’s still too poor to pay for a lawyer and now claims his house is on the brink of foreclosure, but embattled Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. still has the coin to jet-set around the country while under indictment on corruption charges, records show.
Boyland showed up in Brooklyn federal court yesterday and once again complained that he’s beset by financial troubles and doesn’t have the funds to hire a lawyer.
“I couldn’t afford one, Your Honor,” Boyland said.
But Judge Sandra Townes was quick to call the Brooklyn lawmaker on the carpet.
“If you can find the money to travel, you can find the money to hire an attorney,” Townes told Boyland.
The Post first reported last month that Boyland had traveled to Washington, DC, to attend President Obama’s inauguration and related festivities.
However, since Boyland’s arrest in Nov. 2011, the Brooklyn Democrat – who is out on bail awaiting trial – also has traveled for pleasure on a number of other occasions, a review of court records shows.
Among these jaunts were:
– Boyland took an Easter holiday vacation from April 7-14, 2012 with family members in North Carolina.
– The state legislator spent a three-day weekend from May 18-20, 2012 in Washington, DC to attend a relative’s graduation, and stayed at a. Four Diamond-rated Westin on the banks of the Potomac.
– A few weeks later, Boyland traveled to Columbia, South Carolina, from June 9-11, 2012 to spend a three-day weekend with friends.
– Later in the summer, Boyland returned to North Carolina to vacation with family members from August 11-16, 2012.
– The lawmaker was in Washington, DC to attend inaugural festivities for President Obama during a three-day stay from Jan. 18-21, 2013.
The Post reported in December how the judge shot down Boyland’s previous request to have taxpayers foot the legal bill for defense attorneys at his upcoming corruption trial.
“Mr. Boyland simply does not qualify,” Townes said at a December court hearing.
“Anybody who owns property valued at $460,000, and who is receiving the salary of an assemblyman, and who is receiving $960 a month in rental income is capable of financing his defense,” the judge said at the time.
Boyland’s salary as an assemblyman is $79,500 a year, plus per diem.
Yesterday, the judge again rejected Boyland’s request for taxpayer-financed attorneys.
“Based on the information I have, you can afford to hire a lawyer,” Townes told the lawmaker.
Boyland is awaiting trial in July on charges that he solicited 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.