This Brooklyn politician is getting very good at dodging bullets.
Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. was found not guilty yesterday of federal corruption charges related to an alleged no-show job from a health-care provider in Brooklyn and Queens.
The stunning jury verdict sparked screams of joy in Manhattan federal court from supporters and relatives of Boyland — a Democrat who in August survived gunshots fired at the SUV in which he and his 7-year-old son were riding in Brooklyn.
The acquittal comes two months after ex-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.
“I’m happy the jury voted in my favor to help us win this thing,” said an ecstatic Boyland after the verdict, which came just 40 minutes after Judge Jed Rakoff urged jurors to break their days-long deadlock.
“My team was incredible. I’m looking forward to getting back in service,” said Boyland, referring to his job in Albany representing Crown Heights, Browns-ville and East New York.
Asked if he planned on celebrating last night, Boyland said, “I have to breathe first.”
Boyland was arrested last spring along with Kruger, Rosen, Kruger’s longtime companion Dr. Michael Turano and five others in a federal corruption case that rocked the statehouse.
Boyland was accused of receiving $177,000 over five years from MediSys for a consulting job in which he did little or no work.
Prosecutors claimed that in return, Boyland tried to secure millions of dollars worth of grants for MediSys, which operates Jamaica, Flushing and Brookdale hospitals.
During trial arguments, a prosecutor said Boyland “had no intention of actually earning the money by doing the hospital work.”
But Boyland’s lawyer, Richard Rosenberg, told jurors that the job was legitimate, and the assemblyman’s relationship with Rosen was “logical, totally lawful, one that made total business sense.”
Despite the acquittal, Boyland still faces ethics charges in the Legislature related to the case.
US Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office prosecuted the case, said, “We are disappointed . . . but respect the jury’s verdict, and we remain absolutely committed to pursuing public corruption in Albany and elsewhere.”
Kruger, who has pleaded not guilty, is awaiting trial. He is accused of receiving bribes from MediSys and a health-care consultant linked to another hospital operator.
Rosen, who faces 70 years in prison, is awaiting sentencing by Judge Rakoff, who found him guilty after a nonjury trial.
Additional reporting by