Nov 1, 2009 11:56 am US/Eastern
Ex-Senate Leader Joe Bruno Faces Corruption Trial
ALBANY (CBS) ―
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NY Senate Leader Joseph Bruno (File Image)
CBS
For more than a decade, state Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno was a top power broker in New York. The backslapping former boxer had more bounce in his step than aides half his age and was gruffly unapologetic over the millions in pork projects that he grabbed for his upstate district.
On Monday, he faces trial on charges that could tarnish his legacy, send him to prison and serve as a de facto indictment of Albany's oft-criticized political culture.
Federal prosecutors accuse him of collecting $3.2 million in commissions and gifts over 13 years in return for using his influence to benefit a dozen labor unions and three private businessmen. He has pleaded not guilty and denounced the eight-count indictment as a politically motivated fishing expedition.
The trial is expected to last weeks.
After his retirement, Bruno became chief executive officer of CMA Consulting Services. CMA, an information technology consulting business based in the Albany County suburb of Latham, is headed by Kay McCabe Stafford, the widow of Republican Sen. Ronald Stafford.
(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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