Clarence Norman Is Found Guilty on 3 Felony Counts

Clarence Norman Jr., the longtime powerbroker of Brooklyn Democrats and the primary target of a wide-ranging investigation into judicial corruption in the county, was found guilty yesterday of intentionally soliciting illegal campaign contributions.After beginning deliberations Monday, a predominantly black and female jury in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn convicted Norman, 54, of two felony counts of violating election law, one felony count of falsifying business records, and one misdemeanor count of falsifying business records.Norman faces up to eight years in prison, prosecutors said, with sentencing before Justice Martin Marcus scheduled for November 29.One of the most powerful black politicians in the state, Norman immediately resigned as chairman of Brooklyn’s Democratic Party, an organization whose influence has waned as its corruption problems have escalated. As a convicted felon, Norman is also banished from the state Assembly seat in Crown Heights that he held for 23 years. Because the vacancy occurred after September 20, Governor Pataki has the option of calling for a special election to fill the seat before next year’s November general election, according to sources in the governor’s office.Yesterday’s verdict represented a major vindication for Brooklyn’s veteran district attorney, Charles “Joe” Hynes. The verdict comes weeks after he eked out a victory in a hard-fought district attorney primary race in which his opponents accused him of turning a blind eye to corruption in a county plagued with allegations of judicial bribery. Supporters of Norman questioned whether the motives behind Mr. Hynes’s investigation of Norman had to do more with politics than justice. Mayor Koch reportedly questioned the prosecution’s intent to criminalize what he considered to be an ethics issue.A Democratic political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, said Mr. Hynes “has reclaimed the mantle of reformer and corruption-fighter that some have tried to take away from him,”For Norman, it was a stunning defeat for a man who staged public rallies in his defense and who led a march with his father, a well-known Brooklyn pastor, and other supporters to Brooklyn’s district attorney’s office, where he turned himself in after he was indicted on October 9, 2003. Dapper in a three-piece suit with a handkerchief spilling out of his breast pocket, Norman sat stone-faced while the jury read its verdict. Minutes later, outside the courthouse, Norman rose to his defense.” The facts substantiated that we did no wrong,” Norman said to a pack of reporters.The prosecutor in the case, Michael Vecchione, who heads the Rackets Division for the Brooklyn district attorney, told reporters after the verdict came in, “The world of Brooklyn politics is not the same today as it was yesterday.”The case hinged on whether the jury believed Norman knowingly broke campaign finance laws to cover costs for his 2000 and 2002 primary campaigns or whether it was a more innocent matter of shoddy bookkeeping.The jury found that Norman knowingly solicited more than $10,000 in campaign contributions from Ralph Bombardiere, a lobbyist for the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops, and then tried to conceal the donations. In both campaigns, the amount solicited exceeded the legal limit of $3,100. The money, prosecutors charged, went to pay for such campaign items such as thousands of plastic bags emblazoned with Norman’s name, but did not enrich him personally.Norman faced charges that were included in four indictments against him and the party’s executive director, Jeffrey Feldman. The other three indictments accuse Norman of using the judicial nominating system to steer contracts to favored consultants, accepting more than $5,000 in reimbursements from the Assembly for travel that had already been paid for by the county party, and depositing a $5,000 check made out to his re-election committee into his personal bank account, the Associated Press reported.The indictments stem from Mr. Hynes’s 2003 probe into reports of the buying and selling of judgeships and justices in Brooklyn. Although the party in the county has lost clout with voters, it has enormous influence over the selection of judges, a system in which party contributions by prospective judicial candidates are reputed to be a prerequisite for party nominations. The probe into illegal activity was triggered by the arrest of Judge Gerald Garson, who was charged with accepting gifts in return for fixing divorce cases.News of the probe was first reported in The New York Sun by reporters Jack Newfield and Colin Miner. Newfield died in 2004.“The stories Jack and I did together were as reporters and thus journalistic, not prosecutorial in nature,” Mr. Miner told the Sun yesterday. “At the same time, as a columnist, Jack was able to express his outrage at what he considered crimes against the people of Brooklyn. Today’s decision shows Jack’s outrage was well-placed.”The conviction of its leader of almost 15 years leaves the Brooklyn Democratic Party, already splintered by infighting among clubs, with a power void at a critical time during the election cycle. Party leaders are expected to call a meeting of the executive committee shortly to determine Norman’s successor.Among the likely contenders is Joseph Bova, the longtime Bay Ridge district leader. Also said to be in the running are Assemblymen Darryl Towns and Joseph Lentol.Mr. Towns, of Cypress Hills, was first elected to the Assembly in 1993. The state Board of Elections investigated him in 2003 for failing to disclose campaign assistance, but found no evidence that Mr. Towns was aware of the illegal donations. His father, Rep. Edolphus Towns, is serving his 12th term as a congressman representing Brooklyn.Mr. Lentol has represented northern Brooklyn in the Assembly since 1972. He reportedly declined an appointment as the borough’s second surrogate judge this summer, choosing to remain a legislator.“They’ll be a call for reform and a demand to put reform measures in place, which only happens whenever a political figure of major import is ever convicted of a crime,” Mr. Sheinkopf said.Alan Fleishman, a district leader in Brooklyn who describes himself as a reformer, said the party needs to be about “more than making bad judges in the borough.”With yesterday’s conviction, Norman joins a notorious list of New York party bosses brought down by corruption charges, from William Marcy Tweed, who died in prison in 1878,to Meade Esposito, the former Brooklyn party chief who in 1987 was convicted of giving an illegal gratuity. Norman also follows in the footsteps of Guy Velella, a former state senator who served more than three months in prison on bribery charges and was released last year.Upon hearing the verdict last night, Brooklyn residents spoke of their disappointment about the future of the party’s leadership. “It’s just a very sad commentary on the leadership of the party,” Steve Newman, 42, said. “If this type of behavior is the behavior which is modeled for the rest of the Democratic leadership, then we’re in troubled waters.”Norman was elected chairman of executive committee for the Kings County Democratic County Committee in 1990, becoming the youngest person to lead the Brooklyn Democrats. In the 1970s, at the beginning of his career, he spent five years as a trial attorney in the felony bureau for the Kings County District Attorney’s office.

Clarence Norman Is Found Guilty on 3 Felony Counts

Clarence Norman Is Found Guilty on 3 Felony Counts

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