Powerful New York state senator convicted of lying to FBI agents

By Joseph Ax

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A powerful New York state senator was convicted on Wednesday of lying to FBI agents during a public corruption investigation, federal prosecutors said.

Thomas Libous, a Republican and the second highest-ranking state senator, had been charged with one count of making false statements by the office of Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, which has pursued a sweeping campaign against public corruption in Albany, the state capital.

Earlier this year, Bharara indicted the leaders of both legislative houses, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver and Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, who subsequently stepped down from their posts but refused to resign their seats.

A jury convicted Libous, the state Senate's deputy majority leader, on its first day of deliberations following a weeklong trial in White Plains, New York. He faces up to five years in prison.

"Public corruption is a scourge," Bharara said in a statement. "But lies to law enforcement make the job of fighting corruption doubly difficult."

Libous' defense lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.

The case against Libous was based on a 2010 interview by FBI agents, who were investigating whether he had arranged for his son Matthew to be hired at a law firm in exchange for promising to steer business to the firm. Authorities also were looking into allegations that Libous had arranged for a lobbying firm to pay a portion of his son's salary.

Libous falsely told the agents he did not know how his son had gotten his job and said he never promised to refer business to the firm, according to the indictment.

Matthew Libous was separately charged with failing to report income and convicted in January by a federal judge after a non-jury trial. He was sentenced to six months in prison.

Silver, a Democrat, is accused of using his position to collect millions of dollars in illegal kickbacks, while Skelos, a Republican, is charged with pressuring companies doing business with the state to pay his son hundreds of thousands of dollars in commissions and jobs in exchange for Skelos' political support. Skelos' son, Adam, has also been indicted.

All three men have pleaded not guilty and denied the allegations.

In a separate public corruption case, a federal jury in Brooklyn is deliberating whether to convict state Senator John Sampson for obstructing an investigation into allegations of embezzlement.

(Reporting by Joseph Ax; Editing by Christian Plumb)