Bribery Case Lands Ex-Assemblywoman in Prison

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The New York Sun

A former Brooklyn assemblywoman will spend two to six years in prison for attempting to bribe a private contractor with city-owned land in exchange for building her a house.

The Brooklyn district attorney, Charles Hynes, announced Diane Gordon’s sentencing yesterday, following her April 8 conviction on charges of receiving bribes and official misconduct.

The Department of Investigation received a tip in 2004 from an employee of the city’s Department of Housing, Preservation and Development that Gordon, 59, was engaging in corruption.

In July 2006, a private contractor, Ranjan Batheja, who was working for the DOI, recorded a conversation in which Gordon offered him a city contract for a $2 million vacant lot if he would build her a house and install French doors in her Assembly office.

Gordon wanted what would have been a $500,000 house built in a gated community in Queens and was specific in her requests — she told the contractor she wanted cherry cabinets and multiple Jacuzzis.

According to Mr. Hynes, Gordon offered to pay the contractor $1 and wrote a letter recommending him as the contractor for the project, but the deal fell through.

“Diane Gordon violated her oath of office and betrayed the trust of the people who she was elected to serve,” Mr. Hynes said.

“She will pay a heavy price for that betrayal,” he said.

Gordon, a Democrat who first ran for office in 2000, ran again in 2006 following her indictment. She was forced out of office after she was convicted.

Gordon’s lawyer, Bernard Udell, could not be reached for comment.


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