Former New York Lt. Gov. Brian Benjamin is again facing felony bribery and fraud charges after a federal appeals court stepped in Friday to reinstate them.
A three-judge panel from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously ruled against the Harlem Democrat, finding a judge erred when he dismissed the charges in late 2022.
Benjamin, also a former state senator, is accused of steering a state grant to a real-estate developer’s non-profit organization in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars in contributions to Benjamin’s political campaigns.
But even with Friday’s ruling, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan faces a major obstacle in its case against the former lieutenant governor: The real-estate developer, Gerald Migdol, died last month, leaving prosecutors without a key witness.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, declined comment Friday.
In a statement, Benjamin’s attorney, Barry Berke, said the allegations against Benjamin “are false.”
“The facts are clear that Mr. Benjamin did nothing other than engage in routine fundraising and support a non-profit providing needed resources to Harlem public schools,” Berke said. “We remain confident that Mr. Benjamin will be vindicated in this case, which never should have been brought.”
Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Benjamin as lieutenant governor in August 2021, shortly after Hochul herself took over the governor’s office. .
Benjamin was arrested in April 2022 and resigned hours later, ending his brief, seven-month tenure. He’s accused of orchestrating a bribery scheme in which he allegedly picked Migdol’s non-profit — Friends of Public School Harlem, a group that distributes backpacks and school supplies to students — for a $50,000 state grant, with Migdol delivering $25,000 in political contributions to Benjamin two weeks later.
Benjamin previously represented Harlem and parts of the Upper West Side in the State Senate.
In December 2022, U.S….
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