NEW YORK (AP) — A longtime aide to New York’s governor is going on trial on charges he used his relationship with him to collect bribes from two companies doing business with the state.
FILE – In this April 26, 2013, file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, right, and Joseph Percoco, executive deputy secretary, stand at a news conference in Albany, N.Y. Percoco is set to go on trial in New York, Monday, Jan. 22, 2018, on charges that he orchestrated a complicated bribery and extortion scheme involving deep pocketed lobbyists and developers. (AP Photo/Mike Groll, File)
Jury selection starts Monday in federal court in Manhattan in the trial of Joseph Percoco, a former aide to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Percoco and several co-defendants have pleaded not guilty to charges of bid-rigging and bribery related to state economic development projects.
Cuomo, a Democrat, has not been accused of wrongdoing and is not expected to testify.
The charges against Percoco were brought by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara (bahr-AHR’-ah), who was fired by President Donald Trump last year along with other federal prosecutors.
The trial will be the first major prosecution supervised by Bharara’s interim replacement, Geoffrey Berman.
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