A Bronx state senator accused of funneling more than $400,000 in taxpayer dollars toward expenses such as his daughter’s college tuition, his own cigar brand, and his estate in the Dominican Republic, now says he can’t afford to pay for photocopies of evidence against him, a lawyer told a federal judge yesterday.

The judge, William Pauley, said he wouldn’t allow state Senator Efrain Gonzalez Jr. to ask the government to pay until the politician files a financial affidavit with the court showing how poor he is.

Mr. Gonzalez, 58, was indicted last year in Manhattan Federal Court along with three associates on mail fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering charges. The government claims Mr. Gonzalez misdirected state monies and stole funds intended for charities in his district.

Mr. Gonzalez faces decades in prison if convinced on the corruption charges. He has pleaded not guilty.

His lead lawyer, Murray Richman, said after the hearing that his client’s key source of income was his $79,500 Senate salary.

Past politicians charged with wrongdoing have used leftover campaign funds to pay legal fees. A lawyer with the New York Public Interest Research Group, Gene Russianoff, said yesterday it would appear to be technically legal but highly unethical for Mr. Gonzalez to use the $73,624 the state Board of Elections says he has left in his campaign coffers for that purpose.