Former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver was sentenced to seven years in prison on Friday for taking millions in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for using his position to benefit two law firms. It's the second time Silver has been sentenced on the federal corruption charges, first brought in 2015 by former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Preet Bharara. His previous conviction was thrown out by an appeals court in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court's McDonnell v. United States decision, which narrowed key elements to prove bribery cases. Silver was retried and convicted earlier this year. Silver said his team plans to appeal the conviction. Friday's sentence is lower than the 12 years Silver was sentenced to in 2016. Prosecutors had recommended in their sentencing memo last week that Silver receive a sentence “substantially in excess” of the 10 years in prison recommended by the Probation Office. “The evidence at trial revealed, once again, that Silver repeatedly corrupted the great power of his office for personal profit and caused incalculable damage to the public trust,” prosecutors wrote. “There is no explanation for his conduct, other than greed.” Silver's lawyers had a very different idea for their client's fate. They suggested Silver serve a custodial sentence followed by probation. For example, they said, Silver could staff a state help desk to help residents “navigate their way through the state bureaucracy” instead of serving time in prison. “Mr. Silver is also an intelligent man, with virtually unparalleled knowledge of New York state government,” his lawyers wrote. “The court could exercise its discretion in a way that punishes Mr. Silver, but takes advantage of his unique talents and still affords the possibility of his living the end of his life in freedom.” Silver was represented by Michael Feldberg, a partner at Allen & Overy in Manhattan. Feldberg did not immediately respond to an inquiry for comment sent Friday afternoon. Silver was convicted on seven counts of federal corruption in May of accepting millions in referral fees from two law firms with business before the state.

• Weitz & Luxenberg, a personal injury firm in Manhattan, paid Silver referral fees for asbestos-induced mesothelioma cancer cases. Silver convinced Dr. Robert Taub, formerly of Columbia University, to refer his cancer patients to the firm in exchange for state research funding. The firm rewarded Silver for those referrals.
• Goldberg & Iryami, a property tax law firm, paid Silver fees for referring two real estate companies to the firm. Silver meanwhile urged lawmakers to pass laws that would benefit those developers.

Silver received more than $3 million for the asbestos-related referrals and approximately $700,000 for the real estate referrals, according to the prosecutors. Silver's indictment in 2015 set off a string of federal corruption cases brought by Bharara before he left office in 2017. Bharara charged former state Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos a few months after Silver with arranging a no-show job for his son at a company with business before the state. Bharara also brought federal corruption charges against Gov. Andrew Cuomo former aide Joseph Percoco, former SUNY Polytechnic Institute president Alain Kaloyeros, a lobbyist with ties to Cuomo, and several upstate companies in 2016. Bharara alleged Percoco and Kaloyeros separately arranged pay-to-play schemes in which they influenced state decisions regarding the companies in exchange for bribes. Skelos, Percoco, Kaloyeros, and executives of those companies were convicted of those charges this year. All will be sentenced this fall, with Percoco expected to come first on Sept. 20. Kaloyeros is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 11 and Skelos is set to be sentenced Oct. 24.