Laurel Babcock
The Archive
Queens pol gets 18 months for illegal campaign contributions
Albert Baldeo won’t be running for City Council again anytime soon. He was sentenced to 18 months in prison Monday for funneling illegal campaign contributions into his unsuccessful bid for...
Former city worker gets five years prison for Medicaid scam
A former city worker will spend five years in behind bars for exploiting his position to use Medicaid as his personal piggy bank. Akim Murray, an ex-eligibility specialist at the...
Dismissed juror says she would've voted to convict Malcolm Smith
An alternate juror in the corruption trial of former state Sen. Malcolm Smith says she believes the disgraced Queens Democrat spearheaded a failed $200,000 bribery scheme to get the Republican...
Ex-GOP boss Isaacs nixed Malcolm Smith bribe
Quid pro quos are OK — but he draws the line at being bribed. Ex-Manhattan GOP Chairman Dan Isaacs testified Friday that he was ready to provide former Democratic state...
Obama's win in 2012 catalyst for Malcolm Smith bribery scandal
It’s all President Obama’s fault! A $200,000 bribery scheme to secure the Republican line in the 2013 mayoral race for then-state Sen. Malcolm Smith, a Queens Democrat, was the result...
Malcolm Smith boasted about plan to bribe senators: undercover agent
Pols like money in their pockets — not just their campaign coffers. A federal agent who went undercover as a wealthy developer to boost the government’s bribery case against former...
Undercover agent says Malcolm Smith knew of bribery scheme
A federal agent who went undercover as a wealthy businessman for the government’s case against former state Sen. Malcolm Smith testified Wednesday that the disgraced politician was well aware he...
Malcolm Smith tried to buy election in alleged $200K bribery scheme
Disgraced former Democratic state Sen. Malcolm Smith wanted so badly to become the next mayor of New York that he allied himself with equally crooked Republicans in a $200,000 scheme...
De Blasio reappoints judge who freed men who threatened cops
Mayor Bill de Blasio delivered another blow to New York’s Finest on Wednesday when he reappointed a Brooklyn judge who freed without bail two men who threatened cops just days...
Personal trainer accused of threatening cop charged with harassment
A Brooklyn personal trainer was charged with aggravated harassment Monday for threatening an NYPD officer just one day after two cops were gunned down in Bed-Stuy. Clifton Jean-Pierre sent a...
Feds 'vote sale' tactic nixed in Malcolm Smith bribery case
Indicted state Sen. Malcolm Smith caught a big break Thursday when a federal judge shot down a bid by prosecutors to tell jurors at his bribery trial next month how...
Mob turncoat gets 12 years after copping to 5 hits
A mob turncoat who admitted to helping kill five people — including a Brooklyn cop — landed just 12 years behind bars Tuesday. And, thanks to time served, Colombo soldier...
Parents of student killed by bus get huge payout from MTA
The MTA has agreed to pay $1.8 million to the parents of an FIT student killed by a bus driver on his first day back from a three-month texting-while-driving suspension,...
Mentally ill woman championed by Bharara safe—for now
A mentally ill woman whose fight against eviction from her Manhattan apartment has been championed by US Attorney Preet Bharara is safe — for now. Stephanie Aaron has been warring...
Sharpton denies fathering ex-City Hall aide's troubled teen
The Rev. Al Sharpton unexpectedly denied fathering ex-City Hall aide Rachel Noerdlinger's troubled teenage son during a news conference about his long-standing tax debts on Wednesday. Without prompting, Sharpton brought...
Sharpton claims to have settled his debts with the IRS
The Rev. Al Sharpton seized on ex-spokeswoman Rachel Noerdlinger’s departure from City Hall Monday to dredge up his own old complaints about the government’s probe into his shady tax returns...
A-listers mourn Oscar de la Renta
The biggest names in politics, fashion and the arts bid a tearful farewell Monday to designer Oscar de la Renta, whose enduring eye for style touched virtually all aspects of...
Students lug mattresses to campus to protest sexual assault
Hundreds of angry college women went to the mattresses Wednesday as protests erupted over the handling of sexual-abuse claims at Columbia University and other area schools. Some 200 demonstrators piled...
NYPD lieutenant found guilty in ticket-fixing scandal
An NYPD lieutenant was found guilty Wednesday — and faces up to one year in jail — for leaking information to colleagues about the massive NYPD ticket-fixing scandal. Judge Martin Marcus found...
Ex-officer in ticket-fix scandal 'wasn't a great cop' but isn't guilty: lawyer
He’s not the best cop — but that doesn’t mean he’s guilty of robbery and transporting drugs. That’s what lawyers for Jose Ramos — the NYPD cop who spurred the...