ALBANY — The hits keep coming from federal prosecutors in the capital, with the No. 2 Republican in the state Senate becoming the latest legislator to be indicted.
Sen. Tom Libous (R-Binghamton) was charged Tuesday with one count of lying to the FBI as part of a brazen plot to land his son a job with a White Plains law firm in 2006.
The indictment accuses Libous of offering to steer business to the firm if it hired his 32-year-old son, Matthew, who was indicted separately on six charges, including evading taxes on $282,126 in income.
The law firm wasn’t identified.
But the indictment said Libous told a partner he’d have to “build a new wing” to accommodate the flood of new business the senator would send his way once Matthew was put on the payroll.
The indictment said Libous arranged for a lobbyist to reimburse the firm for $50,000 to cover some of Matthew’s salary, as well as the bill for leasing a Range Rover for Matthew’s use.
The lobbying firm once known as Ostroff, Hiffa & Associates confirmed it was the one referred to in the indictment, but added that former partner Fred Hiffa, who had arranged the hiring of Matthew, was no longer there.
Libous has been a senator since 1998 and is so close to Gov. Cuomo that the governor dropped by Matthew’s wedding last year.
The senator’s indictment came just four days after Assemblywoman Gabriela Rosa (D-Manhattan) resigned after admitting she became a citizen through a sham wedding around 1996.
Since 2000, 31 members of the Legislature have been indicted, convicted or left under a cloud.
The senator and his son both pleaded not guilty to charges brought by US Attorney Preet Bharara and emerged from White plains federal court vowing to fight the charges.
“Of course I love my son and I hurt for him and he, too, is innocent and he’s going to fight his charges,” said Libous, 61.
“This all started out where they said I tried to help my son and that was a crime, but it certainly wasn’t. The most important thing is that things work out for him.
“The federal government is saying that I lied to them. There’s no bribery charges, there’s no conspiracy charges, there’s no other types . . . You can’t compare that to some of the other charges that I think some of my colleagues have [been] through.”
Libous also said he was going to run for re-election this year, and mentioned that he is battling cancer.
Republicans worried that the indictment would give Democrats an opening to grab Libous’ seat.
“The timing is terrible. This now becomes a contested seat and will cost Senate Republicans
$1 million to defend,” said GOP consultant Brendan Quinn.
Additional reporting by Carl Campanile