Corruption Trial for Ex-Corrections Union Boss Ends in Hung Jury, Mistrial
After six days of deliberation, the corruption trial against Norman Seabrook, the powerful former head of New York City's corrections officers union, ended with the jury deadlocked and the court declaring a mistrial.
November 16, 2017 at 06:41 PM
4 minute read
Norman Seabrook. Photo: City&State TV/YouTube
After six days of deliberation, the corruption trial against Norman Seabrook, the powerful former head of New York City's corrections officers union, ended with the jury deadlocked and the court declaring a mistrial.
Seabrook was charged with honest services fraud and a related wire fraud conspiracy account for allegedly taking a $60,000 kickback from a Manhattan hedge fund in exchange for steering $20 million in retirement money from the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association to the fund.
Juror No. 1 in the case, Joseph Roldan of the Bronx, said there was a consensus among the jurors that Seabrook was not guilty of the conspiracy count but said there was disagreement about the honest services fraud count.
“It's a tough choice,” he said. “Just wasn't enough evidence.”
U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter Jr. of the Southern District of New York presided over the case.
Speaking with reporters outside the courthouse, Seabrook's lawyer, Paul Shechtman of Bracewell, took a swipe at the credibility of Jona Rechnitz, the government's star witness in the case, who testified that he handed Seabrook the kickback in a Ferragamo designer bag.
Shechtman said that he observed jurors snickering during Rechnitz's testimony, and that Rechnitz and the truth “have never been in the same room.”
“If you could spend your life as a lawyer cross-examining Jona Rechnitz it would be a very happy life,”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin Bell, Russell Capone, Kan Nawaday and Lauren Schorr prosecuted the case.
In a statement released after the verdict, Acting Southern District U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said his office would retry Seabrook and that it will provide “powerful proof that he sold his duty to safeguard corrections officers' retirement money” for bribes.
“Although justice has been delayed, we expect it will ultimately prevail,” Kim said.
Norman Seabrook. Photo: City&State TV/YouTube
After six days of deliberation, the corruption trial against Norman Seabrook, the powerful former head of
Seabrook was charged with honest services fraud and a related wire fraud conspiracy account for allegedly taking a $60,000 kickback from a Manhattan hedge fund in exchange for steering $20 million in retirement money from the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association to the fund.
Juror No. 1 in the case, Joseph Roldan of the Bronx, said there was a consensus among the jurors that Seabrook was not guilty of the conspiracy count but said there was disagreement about the honest services fraud count.
“It's a tough choice,” he said. “Just wasn't enough evidence.”
U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter Jr. of the Southern District of
Speaking with reporters outside the courthouse, Seabrook's lawyer, Paul Shechtman of Bracewell, took a swipe at the credibility of Jona Rechnitz, the government's star witness in the case, who testified that he handed Seabrook the kickback in a Ferragamo designer bag.
Shechtman said that he observed jurors snickering during Rechnitz's testimony, and that Rechnitz and the truth “have never been in the same room.”
“If you could spend your life as a lawyer cross-examining Jona Rechnitz it would be a very happy life,”
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Martin Bell, Russell Capone, Kan Nawaday and Lauren Schorr prosecuted the case.
In a statement released after the verdict, Acting Southern District U.S. Attorney Joon Kim said his office would retry Seabrook and that it will provide “powerful proof that he sold his duty to safeguard corrections officers' retirement money” for bribes.
“Although justice has been delayed, we expect it will ultimately prevail,” Kim said.
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