Common Cause Responds to Espada Guilty Verdict

02.27.2014 / 1:23 AM

For Immediate Release:

Contact: Susan Lerner

May 14, 2012

212-691-6421

Common Cause Responds to Espada Guilty Verdict

Today former State Senator Pedro Espada was convicted of four counts of theft by a federal jury. In response, Common Cause NY released the following statement:

“Today’s verdict against former State Senator Pedro Espada brings to a close an egregious and infamous chapter in New York’s legislative history. Former Senator Espada was the poster child for corruption and the whole sale flaunting of our campaign finance and ethics laws. The fact of this trial has been a continuing indictment of New York State’s lax ethics oversight and enforcement. It’s unfortunate that it took a criminal indictment to curb Espada’s tax payer supported excesses.

We hope that this sordid tale will strengthen the resolve of the members of the Joint Commission on Public Integrity (JCOPE) to vigilantly pursue corruption and ethics violations. We also hope this will inspire the Legislature to strengthen the ethics laws, which while recently improved, are not yet the model they need to be,” said Susan Lerner, Executive Director of Common Cause NY