Sheldon Silver, for decades one of the most powerful politicians in New York state, was convicted Monday of honest-services fraud, extortion and money laundering in a trial that is likely to reshape the business of Albany and embolden prosecutors with an appetite for public-corruption cases aimed at the Capitol. 
 
 The Democratic speaker of the New York state Assembly for more than 20 years, Mr. Silver was found guilty by a 12-person federal jury in Manhattan of four counts of honest-services fraud, two counts of extortion,... ||||| Asked by one reporter what he would say to constituents who had supported him over the years, he responded, “Thank you.” His lawyers then guided him through the crowd and into a waiting black sedan. 
 
 Mr. Bharara released an equally succinct statement after the verdict: “Today, Sheldon Silver got justice, and at long last, so did the people of New York.” 
 
 Mr. Silver is the most prominent in a parade of state lawmakers who have been convicted by Mr. Bharara’s office. Mr. Silver’s former counterpart, State Senator Dean G. Skelos, a Republican from Long Island who served as Senate majority leader, is also being tried on federal corruption charges; his case, which also includes Mr. Skelos’s son, Adam, entered its third week on Monday. 
 
 For portions of his tenure as speaker, Mr. Silver maintained a viselike hold on the Assembly, withstanding the rare challenge from Democratic colleagues, and brushing off all criticism of his performance. He was faulted for his handling of two sexual harassment allegations; in 2013, a state ethics report criticized him for covering up accusations of sexual harassment against Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez. 
 
 Mr. Silver also stood out in financial disclosure reports that showed him to be one of the largest earners of outside income among New York State politicians, reporting that he had been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by a law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg. That arrangement would become one of the focal points of the government’s case. 
 
 At Mr. Silver’s trial, the government presented evidence that prosecutors said showed he had orchestrated two schemes through which he obtained nearly $4 million in illegal payments for taking official actions that benefited a prominent cancer researcher, Dr. Robert N. Taub, at Columbia University, and two New York real estate development firms. ||||| "Today, justice was served. Corruption was discovered, investigated, and prosecuted, and the jury has spoken," Cuomo said. "With the allegations proven, it is time for the Legislature to take seriously the need for reform. There will be zero tolerance for the violation of the public trust in New York."
– US Attorney Preet Bharara has won a massive victory in his quest to get rid of what he calls a "cauldron of corruption" in New York's state capital. Sheldon Silver, the former longtime New York State Assembly speaker, has been found guilty of federal corruption charges and faces many years in prison, reports the New York Times, which calls the Democrat "one of the most feared politicians" in the state. After nearly three days of deliberation, a jury found the 71-year-old guilty of abusing his powers over the state budget by taking part in two schemes that made him around $4 million, Wall Street Journal reports. He will automatically be kicked out of the assembly after nearly 40 years as a member and more than 20 as speaker. In one scheme, Silver directed state funds to a cancer researcher who ensured Silver won hefty referral fees from a law firm he sent patients to, the New York Daily News reports. In the second, Silver negotiated tax breaks for a developer that sent its business to another law firm that paid him referral fees, the Journal reports. The payments were discovered when an anti-corruption committee scrutinized his outside income. Silver was found guilty on seven counts and could face a sentence of up to 120 years in federal prison, reports the Times, which notes that a prosecutor described his conduct as government not "by the people or for the people," but "by Sheldon Silver for Sheldon Silver." (After less than two hours of deliberations, a "stressed out" juror asked to go home.)