ALBANY, N.Y. – Brian Benjamin, lieutenant governor of the state of New York, who has been in office less than a year, was arrested Tuesday and resigned after being indicted for charges tantamount to political corruption.
The Democrat politician is facing five to 20 years in prison in what federal prosecutors say was a “scheme” to get campaign contributions in exchange for a $50,000 state grant, Fox News reported.
Moreover, the indictment alleges that Benjamin and others actively tried to “cover up” the plot, engaging “in a series of lies and deception.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Benjamin to the position of lieutenant governor Sept. 9, 2021, shortly after she assumed the governorship from Andrew Cuomo when he resigned in disgrace. Now she’s accepted Benjamin’s resignation effective immediately.
Benjamin carried out the scheme between 2019 and 2021 while he was a state senator and a candidate for state comptroller, according to the indictment.
During the time specified in the indictment, Benjamin is accused of soliciting campaign donations from a real estate developer in exchange for appropriating state funds for the developer’s non-profit organization.
To cover it up, Benjamin reportedly falsified campaign donor forms, court papers state. Furthermore, when he was being vetted for lieutenant governor in 2021, he is accused of falsely stating that he had never “directly exercised” his authority as an official “concerning a matter of a donor [he] directly solicited.”
In total, Benjamin is facing charges that include bribery, conspiracy, honest services wire fraud, and falsification of records, according to Fox.
Consequently, prosecutors also seek forfeiture of the funds involved or, alternatively, “any other property of the defendant up to the value of the forfeitable property.”
