By Alex Robinson
Disgraced former State Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin has had his sentence slashed by four years for helping prosecutors bring convictions against other elected officials, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan said.
Federal Judge Richard Sullivan reduced the Flushing Democrat’s sentence Wednesday to six years from 10 after prosecutors sought leniency for his assistance in bringing corruption and bribery charges against the late Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio and David Rosen, the former chief executive of the nonprofit MediSys Health Network, according to court documents.
In a 2010 letter to Sullivan, prosecutors explained that Seminerio’s conviction relied heavily on McLaughlin’s cooperation when he agreed to wear a wire. Prosecutors contended McLaughlin’s “efforts to make amends for the harm he caused have continued unabated.”
McLaughlin was once one of Queens’ most powerful politicians frequently mentioned as a possible mayoral candidate and the former head of the city’s municipal labor council.
He has served nearly five years after he pleaded guilty in 2009 to embezzling millions of dollars from labor groups, his own re-election committee and the Electchester Little League.
Reach reporter Alex Robinson by e-mail at arobinson@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4566.
