ALBANY, N.Y. AP – For more than a decade, state Senate Republican leader Joseph Bruno was a top power broker in New York. The backslapping former boxer had more bounce in his step than aides half his age and was gruffly unapologetic over the millions in pork projects that he grabbed for his upstate district.

On Monday, he faces trial on charges that could tarnish his legacy, send him to prison and serve as a de facto indictment of Albany’s oft-criticized political culture.