Steven Pigeon, an attorney and political operative from Western New York, will plead guilty to federal charges of bribing a judge two weeks after he pleaded guilty to state charges in the same scheme.

Filings in the Western District of New York show Pigeon intends to change his plea in federal court before U.S. District Judge Richard Arcara on Oct. 9. He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.

A spokeswoman for U.S. Attorney James Kennedy of the Western District of New York declined to confirm or comment on the change in plea. Paul Cambria Jr. of Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria, who represents Pigeon, did not respond to a request for comment.

Pigeon was accused by state and federal prosecutors of offering bribes to former state Supreme Court Justice John Michalek for more than three years in exchange for influence over litigation before the court.

Michalek pleaded guilty to the scheme in 2016 and subsequently resigned from the bench. He had held the post for almost two decades. He was also disbarred.

Pigeon already lost his law license when he pleaded guilty to a state felony charge of bribery last week in the arrangement. He previously worked in Buffalo for the Rochester-based firm Underberg & Kessler.

Pigeon is known less for his work as an attorney and more for his influence in political circles, particularly in Western New York. He was chair of the Erie County Democratic Committee for nearly a decade and has close ties to Gov. Andrew Cuomo, President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. He was known as a powerhouse among Democrats in Western New York but also had statewide influence in the party.

That changed in 2016 when former Attorney General Eric Schneiderman indicted him on the state charges of bribing Michalek. The federal indictment followed in 2017.

The federal charges cover bribes offered to Michalek by Pigeon between February 2012 and April 2013. Pigeon agreed to support Michalek's application to be appointed to the Appellate Division, Fourth Department, according to his federal indictment. Those appointments are made by the governor and approved by the state Senate. The same agreement was alleged by state prosecutors in their indictment.

Pigeon also promised to get a member of Michalek's family a job working on President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign and offered to help the same individual get a job with the U.S. Department of State, according to the federal indictment.

Those efforts were in exchange for favorable judicial decisions from Michalek and to control who he would appoint to a paid court receivership, federal prosecutors said.

The change in plea comes just days before attorneys were scheduled for oral arguments before Arcara on pretrial motions, which included a motion to dismiss certain charges against Pigeon and suppress some of his statements from trial. A sealed document was filed in the case last week before his guilty plea on state charges.

The guilty plea next week will put to bed Pigeon's legal problems related to the scheme, at least for now. He's scheduled to be sentenced on the state charges in December.

Attorney General Barbara Underwood's office had used emails and text messages between Pigeon and Michalek to allege the bribery scheme in 2016. They were set to go to trial in the case this month before Pigeon agreed to plead guilty.

The state charges alleged that besides asking for an appointment to the Appellate Division, Michalek was also given tickets to a pair of Buffalo Sabres hockey games. Pigeon also allowed a member of Michalek's family to attend a political fundraiser for free. The ticket price for the event was $1,000.

Michalek offered Pigeon information on cases in which he had an interest and also agreed to select a specific attorney to serve as a receiver despite that individual not being on a pre-approved list from the court. Michalek falsely said on a document with the Office of Court Administration that he needed the attorney based on their expertise.

Pigeon faces up to a year in prison on the state charges. He's currently free on $10,000 bail.

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