It was another sad day for Queens this week when former City Councilman Dan Halloran became the latest figure to join the growing ranks of convicted felons who have been elected to public office in the borough.
After an eight-week trial in federal court in White Plains, the jury took only about 90 minutes to find the 42-year-old Halloran, who represented northeast Queens for one term, guilty of bribery. The swiftness of the verdict may have reflected juror fatigue after six days of listening to Halloran’s attorney wander through the evidence as his client testified on the stand.
But weak lawyering should not be blamed for the quick decision reached by the jury.
The U.S. attorney’s office built a strong case against Halloran, who took a $15,000 cash bribe from an undercover FBI agent in exchange for steering public funds to a non-show job. Prosecutors also proved that the former councilman had tried to bribe several GOP officials in a daffy scheme to get Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith the Republican nomination in the 2013 mayoral race.
Smith and former Queens GOP Vice Chairman Vince Tabone had their trials severed from Halloran’s on procedural grounds in June and will be back in court early next year.
What drives an elected official to these ends? Greed? A quest for more power?
Halloran testified that he was going through a divorce and needed money for what he claimed was a legitimate loan — not a bribe — from one of the FBI operatives.
This scenario has been played out far too often in Queens and risks making the electorate cynical about what their ballots are worth.
State Sen. Shirley Huntley, from Jamaica, was recently freed after serving a year in prison for stealing $87,000 in taxpayer funds for shopping sprees. Former state Assemblyman Brian McLaughlin, a powerful Flushing labor leader, is still counting the days on a 10-year term for embezzling more than $2 million in public and labor funds, including monies stolen from a Little League. Former Sen. Hiram Monserrate is in jail for misusing $109,000 in government money for an election campaign.
There are more boldfaced names on the list, but whatever the motives behind these criminal acts, the Queens taxpayer is left holding the bag.
Corruption is an insidious force that has compromised Albany and undermined the political process in Queens. Perhaps Gov. Andrew Cuomo should revive his decommissioned anti-corruption panel.
