Former Assemblyman Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan). (Source: AP)

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, one of the most powerful figures in state government for two decades before his conviction on corruption charges, has died in federal custody. He was 77.

Silver died Monday, a person familiar with the matter told The Associated Press.

WXXI reports Silver, an Orthodox Jew whose parents were Russian immigrants, was a native of Manhattan’s Lower East Side. He was elected to the state Assembly in 1977, and as speaker in 1994. He held the post for more than two decades, and at the time was one of the state’s most powerful politicians.

Silver survived an attempted coup in 2000 on his leadership from Syracuse-area Assemblyman Michael Bragman. For years afterward, he wielded influence in key negotiations on the state’s budget and other policy issues, often giving briefings after closed-door leaders meeting in his distinctive deep, gravelly voice.

The late former speaker was criticized for his handling of sexual harassment charges against former Assemblyman Vito Lopez, and also against a former top aide, who was accused of raping two legislative aides while he was working for the speaker and eventually pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct.

Silver fell from grace in 2015, when he was arrested on federal corruption charges by the U.S. Attorney of the Southern District of New York. He resigned from the speaker’s post.

Silver remained an Assemblyman, but had to leave that post later that year when he was convicted on multiple felony charges for illegally netting $4 million for engineering bribery and kickback schemes. The former speaker saw the charges overturned on appeal, but was convicted in a retrial in 2018. After losing more appeals, he began serving a 6.5-year prison term in July 2020. He also had to pay a $1 million fine.

Silver, who was suffering from cancer, was briefly released to his home in May 2021, under provisions of a pandemic-related federal policies that allowed early release to some medically vulnerable inmates. But after public outcry, he was sent back two days later to the federal prison in Otisville, where he died on Monday.

Andy Goodell

NEW YORK – The head of the New York State Assembly says he has asked an embattled assemblyman from New York City to step down because of sexual harassment allegations. State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver (D-Manhattan) revealed Monday to the New York Daily News that he has asked assemblyman Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn) to resign during a conversation last Friday, but Lopez did not heed his advice.

Lopez, who also serves as the democratic party chairman in Brooklyn, was accused of sexual harassment against two former staffers, who were given an out-of-court settlement of over $130,000 – with $103,000 coming from state tax payer money and approved by Silver.

As a result of the settlement, which was only made public last week, Silver’s political judgement – along with his power in the state capitol – is being questioned. Silver has acknowledged he made an error by authorizing the secret deal. He waited more than a week after the scandal broke before he phoned Lopez, explaining that he initially believed the embattled lawmaker would resign on his own. Silver has also insisted no other settlements have been made during his 18-year tenure as speaker.

The scandal has spawned dual investigations into the sexual harassment charges against Lopez, one by the Ethics Committee and another by the Staten Island district attorney, who has been appointed special prosecutor. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he would reserve judgment on Silver’s role in the Lopez scandal until he reviews results from the two probes.

LOCAL REACTION

Chautauqua County’s current representative in Albany is calling the scandal involving Lopez and Silver’s effort to keep it from going public a serious concern. Assemblyman Andy Goodell (R-Chautauqua), who is serving his first term as Chautauqua County’s representative in the state assembly, offered his comments last Friday while appearing on WRFA’s live broadcast from the Downtown Jamestown Farmers Market. Goodell said that in addition to the two victims who were given the out-of-court settlement – there may have been others who were harassed by Lopez as well.

“[Silver] did nothing, absolutely nothing, to sanction Lopez. Here he spends over $100,000 in taxpayer money and did nothing to punish Lopez,” Goodell said. “And the reason he didn’t punish Lopez is because if he punished Lopez, people would say ‘Why are you punishing him?’ – and the secret, backroom deal would have blown up. It turns out that even after paying over $100,000 in tax payer money, Lopez continued alleged sexual harassment against other women in his office and two more women filed complaints, only this time they filed them with the Ethics committee.”

• LISTEN TO WRFA’S JASON SAMPLE TALK WITH GOODELL ABOUT THE LOPEZ SCANDAL

As a result, Goodell says there should not only be an investigation into the alleged harassment allegations Lopez, but also into any allegations against Silver trying to cover up the incident.

In addition to Goodell’s comments on the issue, his democratic opponent in this upcoming election – Rudy Mueller (D-Lakewood) – is also calling for the immediate investigation of Silver and his alleged use of NYS taxpayer monies to settle sexual harassment claims against Lopez.