Senator Arrested

Senator Arrested - A Democratic New York state senator was arrested Tuesday, Senator Arrested, along with his supposed conspirators, after allegedly paying Republicans to run on their side of the ticket for the November New York City mayoral election. Reuters reports the move comes after a years-long investigation into the scandal, brought on by a wide-open mayoral race due to current Mayor Michael Bloomberg's retirement from the office due to term limits. The numbers belie a wide-ranging bribery plot to fill the top seat in city hall.

The number of men charged with various misdeeds. State Sen. Malcolm Smith, the lone Democrat, supposedly paid various Republican officials to be let on the ballot. Republicans charged are City Councilman Daniel Halloran, Queens County Republican Party Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone, Spring Valley Mayor Noramie Jasmin, Spring Valley Deputy Mayor Joseph Desmaret and Bronx County Republican Party Chairman Joseph Savino.

The number of pages of the court filing made by attorneys in federal court. A total of six counts and dozens of enumerations of alleged illegal behavior were brought to bear on those charged, including counts of conspiracy to bribe, wire fraud, extortion and mail fraud.

The number of terms Smith has served in the New York senate. He was first elected in 2000 and represents Queens at the state capitol in Albany.

40,000: The number, in dollars, promised to Tabone and Savino with a promise of $40,000 more. Others received more than $20,000 as listed in court documents. On Feb. 8, Savino demanded $25,000 while Tabone wanted $50,000 as the FBI recorded their conversations to investigate bribery and corruption at all levels of New York's government. Some of the money was supposedly put in discretionary funds on the New York city council.

500,000: The number, in dollars, some of the defendants allegedly asked Smith to request the state allocate for a road improvement project that would benefit constituents in Spring Valley. The funding would be in return for allowing Smith to be on the ballot as a Republican. The most recent discussion about the funding was March 21 ahead of a meeting scheduled to take place Wednesday.

The number of waivers Smith needed to run on the Republican ballot out of the five Republican chairmen in the city. Savino endorsed Joseph Lhota in March, according to the Wall Street Journal.

The number of Republicans on the New York City Council. Halloran is one of the four.

The number of years it has been since New York hasn't had Bloomberg on the ballot for mayor. He took over for Rudy Giuliani who was the city's leader during the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Bloomberg is noted for initially being a Democrat before switching parties ahead of his first mayoral run in 2001. Now, the mayor claims to be an independent.

Source: yahoo