During the second day of a pre-sentencing hearing for disgraced Assemblymember Anthony Seminerio, federal prosecutors played a number of FBI recordings that they believe demonstrate Seminerio used his legislative seat and sold it to the highest bidders.
Federal prosecutor William Harrington played various recordings from taped conversations between Seminerio and fellow disgraced Assemblymember-turned-FBI-informant Brian McLaughlin, various other clients and an undercover FBI agent on Wednesday, October 21.
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 of 2009 to charges that he took nearly $1 million from hospitals and related entities for actions he undertook as a member of the State Assembly. 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. Judge Naomi Reice Buchwald will decide the sentence at a later date.
On Wednesday, the federal prosecutors finished their arguments and Buchwald set the next hearing date for Friday, October 30, where she will hear the defense arguments.
Prosecutors believe one of the organizations 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 was thanking him for his help in bringing in Winston Financial 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.”
The prosecution also played tape recordings of Seminerio speaking to an undercover FBI agent, who contacted Seminerio and asked for his help drafting legislation. Initially, Seminerio said he would help direct him to a lobbyist because he couldn’t take part in anything directly as a sitting Assemblymember. However, a few months later, Seminerio ended up setting up a meeting with the undercover agent known as Matt and Queens Assemblymember Jeffrion Aubry, who chaired the committee that would be responsible for getting the legislation moving.
“And, uhm, you know I, I have that check so maybe I’ll just…should I come to your office first?” the undercover asked told Seminerio during a phone conversation right before the lunch meeting.
Seminerio responded, “Whatever you wanna do. I don’t care. But you know, you cant, you, you, Matthew, you can’t give me the check in the building. It’s against protocol. It has to be at the restaurant.”
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 on Wednesday that they expected they would need three-quarters to a full day to present their case.
