When you go to the polling place, be it for a primary or general election, and you fill out your ballot, you are basically putting your trust into the person you have selected for that particular office. For years and years Joe Bruno violated that trust. Federal prosecutors have handed down a two-count indictment citing that Bruno took kickbacks in return for favors given a local businessman. The indictment comes on the heels of last years dismissal by the federal Court of Appeals on charges of honest services fraud. What is honest services fraud anyway? These charges of bribery and kickbacks should be a little easier for a jury to digest. When you think about it, how much influence did Mr. Bruno spread around during his years as the most powerful man in state politics? Forget about Jared Abbruzzese, the businessman who allegedly paid the bribe money to Bruno; the next time you go to a game at Joe Bruno Stadium on the campus of Hudson Valley Community College, just think how the stadium got there. The builder of the stadium, usually not involved in that type of work came from his senate district. Joe, in the eyes of his constituents brought money into the district. How much of that money involved deals that padded Bruno’s pockets? I hope that this time the prosecutors can present a case to the jury that will inevitably result in a conviction that will stick. His loadmouth attorney Stewart Jones claims that Bruno is too old to go to jail. I don’t want to see him in prison for the rest of his life, but I do want him to serve some time behind bars. If it were you or me, there would be no question about it. This time around, even Joe is worried. The first time, the jury did find him guilty on two counts. He skated because a judge let him skate. The evidence is already on record. All prosecutors have to do is present it to the jury so that they can understand it. Joe has a team of great lawyers, and god bless him if they can get him out of this mess. Too bad we have to wait for probably a year before they seat a jury. In the meantime, his attorney’s will throw motions at the wall to see which one of them may stick. In this case, the public needs to see a conviction. One thing did come out of the first trial: it put Bruno in the public spotlight for something other than standing next to the governor for a publicity shot. It put him in the eyes of the people who trusted him as a crook, and crooks go to jail.…….Follow me on Twitter @jonmazur.
And that is “The Daily Take”