New York Assembly speaker charged with five criminal counts in corruption case

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was charged on Thursday with five criminal counts stemming from a lengthy corruption investigation, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. The political powerbroker, in the Assembly since 1977 and its most influential Democrat as speaker since 1994, was accused of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and other charges in using his "power and influence" to obtain "millions" in bribes and kickbacks, the criminal complaint said. (Reporting by Jon Stempel; Editing by Barbara Goldberg and Chizu Nomiyama)