via MediSys
Former MediSys CEO David Rosen, who was convicted last year in a massive bribery and corruption scandal that ultimately led to the conviction of former State Sen. Finance Committee Chairman Carl Kruger, has filed an appeal on his conviction in Manhattan federal court.
Rosen, the only defendant in the case to go to trial, was sentenced in late May to three years imprisonment for his role in the corruption case, which centered on charges that Kruger and Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. had been paid by lobbyists and hospital executives in exchange for their help pushing favorable legislation through the State Legislature. Rosen, who has maintained his innocence since the charges were announced, is scheduled to begin serving his term at Otisville penitentiary on August 8, 2012 and is seeking release pending his appeal, a motion initially denied by Judge Jed Rakoff.
Rosen’s appeal hinges on the question of whether or not Rosen’s payments to lawmakers Kruger, former Assemblyman Anthony Seminerio and Assemblyman William Boyland, Jr. constituted an illegal quid-pro-quo.
From the appeal:
“The bribery and honest-services fraud statutes each prohibit “a quid pro quoagreement,” that is, “a government official’s receipt of a benefit in exchange for an act he has performed, or promised to perform, in the exercise of his official authority. By contrast merely paying legislators with the intent “to buy favor or generalized goodwill” from an official who is or may be “in a position to act favorably on the giver’s interest” is “not bribery” but “legal lobbying.” To be guilty of paying a bribe, a defendant must have the specific intent to give something of value in exchange for an official act. The acts constituting the quid pro quo need not be identified when the agreement is formed. Rather, “the requisite quid pro quo” may be established upon a showing that a government official received a benefit “in exchange for his promise to perform official acts . . .as the opportunities arise.”’
Rosen’s attorneys are arguing the former Hospital CEO didn’t bribe anyone, and his payments to Seminerio, Kruger and Boyland were legal.
“Rosen entered into consulting arrangements with Seminerio and Boyland that were expressly permitted by the New York Public Officers law,” the appeal says. “He continued to lobby those legislators on state matters, which the Public Officers law also expressly permits. And the acts he discussed with them did not involve personally enriching Rosen through contracts or business that could be doled out at the legislators’ discretion. Instead, Rosen discussed ways to fund or expand safety-net hospitals, such as opposing cuts to the state’s Medicaid budget, that served the legislators’ own constituents. As Judge Rakoff recognized, those are routine acts that any legislator would perform. Any legislator who merely wanted to be reelected would “fight like hell to prevent Medicaid cuts.” Bribing a legislator to oppose Medicaid cuts would be “wasting [your] time, because you can get that for free, guaranteed.”
Former MediSys CEO David Rosen Appeal
