Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to seven years in prison Friday for public corruption, the Associated Press reports. Silver was once one of the state’s most powerful Democrats until he was accused of “pocketing $4 million illegally by collecting fees from a cancer researcher and real estate developer.” His initial conviction in 2015 was ultimately thrown out by an appeals court, but he was convicted again at his retrial earlier this year. Before his Friday sentencing hearing, Silver reportedly expressed “shame” and a fear that “he would die in prison.” This comes as several former New York officials have recently been handed sentences for corruption.
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