When tainted Queens Assemblymember Anthony Seminerio returns to federal court on Friday, October 30 for a presentencing hearing, it will be the defense’s turn to respond to nearly two days of pummeling from the prosecution detailing an even more widespread corruption scandal than originally thought.
For two days last week, federal prosecutor William Harrington played numerous FBI recordings from taped conversations between Seminerio and fellow disgraced Assemblymember-turned-FBI-informant Brian McLaughlin, various other clients and an undercover FBI agent that detailed the corruption scandal.
Seminerio sat next to his two attorneys as they listened to the recordings played by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in an attempt to show how he used Marc Consultants – the consulting firm Seminerio ran for nearly eight years – to collect payments for actions he took as a state legislator.
Seminerio pleaded guilty in June to charges that he took nearly $1 million from hospitals and related entities for actions he undertook as a member of the State Assembly, but prosecutors said last week that the total could be closer to $2 million.
Seminerio was facing up to 20 years in prison on the single fraud charge, and during the plea announcement, the U.S. Attorney’s Office recommended a sentence of 11 to 14 years. The defense is looking to see that time reduced, but when reached late Monday night in his law office, defense attorney Pery Krinsky declined to discuss any aspects of what the defense would bring up on October 30. Krinsky said he would rather discuss the matter before the court. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald will decide Seminerio’s sentencing at a later date.
Prosecutors believe an organization that paid Seminerio one of the largest sums of money was Jamaica Hospital. In a message that Seminerio left in February 2008 for David Rosen, the CEO of Jamaica Hospital, he thanked Rosen for his help in bringing in Winston Financial as a client to Marc Consultants.
“This will be my annuity for when I retire,” Seminerio allegedly told the person who took the message for Rosen.
The prosecution also recorded Seminerio on a February 14, 2008 phone call with Winston Financial CEO Bob Bradley expressing frustration that George Kalkines was receiving money that he was giving to one of his children, which Seminerio believed was his.
“You tell him Jamaica Hospital is Tony Seminerio’s piece,” Seminerio is heard saying. “Nobody will touch that thing.”
Both Tuesday and Wednesday, Harrington played a clip of Seminerio, who is still receiving a pension for the more than 30 years that he served as a State Assemblymember representing parts of western and southern Queens, talking to McLaughlin about the payments.
“I was doing favors for these sons-of-bitches there, you know, they were – they were making thousands. ‘Screw you, from now on, you know, I’m a consultant.’”
During Harrington’s summation on Wednesday, he talked about how when the FBI executed a search warrant, they found contracts for Marc Consultants in a plastic bag inside Seminerio’s Queens district office.
“This is the million dollar consulting company that Anthony Seminerio ran for 10 years,” Harrington said, holding up the bag. He said that the prosecution submits that it was not a consulting company at all, but Seminerio using his office – and its power – to bilk money out of clients.
Seminerio’s defense attorneys said that they expected they would need three-quarters to a full day to present their case.
