Supreme Court Denies Silver's Petition to Review Money Laundering Charges

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Sheldon Silver leaves federal court on May 3, 2016. Photo: Rick Kopstein.[/caption] The U.S. Supreme Court denied former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver’s petition for writ of certiorari Tuesday. Silver’s petition was filed with the court in October, shortly after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit vacated his corruption conviction and remanded the case back to the district court for a possible retrial. Silver’s jury conviction came in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 2016 decision in McDonnell v. U.S., which narrowed the ways prosecutors can bring bribery charges against public officials for performing “official acts” in exchange for a clear benefit. The appellate court vacated Silver’s conviction since it was unclear whether the district court's jury instructions would pass muster under McDonnell. Despite the huge victory for the former politician—and the upset for former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara’s hard-charging public corruption reputation—Silver’s attorneys sought leave from the high court to review the money laundering aspects of Silver’s conviction. While it reversed his bribery conviction, the appellate court rejected his sufficiency of evidence claim against the money laundering charges. Silver argued to the Supreme Court that there remained a circuit split over the issue of securing such convictions where funds that are allegedly illicit are commingled with those that are not. “We are disappointed that the Supreme Court decided not to review the case at this time. We intend to move forward and obtain a great result for our client,” Silver’s attorneys, MoloLamken name attorney Steven Molo and Stroock & Stroock & Lavan of counsel Joel Cohen, said in a statement. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York declined to comment. A new trial is scheduled to begin this spring.