A pothead Bronx businessman who admitted bribing two former state legislators was sentenced to two years in prison on Friday — but not before a judge scolded him for trying to cover up testing positive for marijuana while on probation.
Manhattan federal Judge William Pauley III ripped into Igor Tsimerman — who pleaded guilty to bribing former state Assembly members Eric Stevenson and Nelson Castro — for “disregarding the lawful orders of this court” by using pot and booze while out on bail and “trying to tamper” with test samples in June that showed he was using marijuana.
Pauley also fined Tsimerman $10,000 and accused him of being “an architect” of the “entire scheme” to get Stevenson to pull strings and draft legislation to help Tsimerman and three other businessmen open adult day-care centers in The Bronx and weed out competition.
Stevenson was found guilty of pocketing more than $22,000 in bribes while Castro pleaded guilty earlier.