A judge sentenced ex-Queens Councilman Dan Halloran to 10 years in prison — two years more than probation officials urged — for a bribe scheme to get former state Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith, a Democrat, the GOP mayoral nod. “This is a serious crime that causes us all to be cynical about our leaders who are supposed to protect and serve us,” White Plains federal Judge Kenneth Karas said Wednesday in throwing the book at Halloran, a Republican. “This was a bribe no matter how you cut it.”
Karas said the stiffer sentence was a result of Halloran lying to the court, calling it “egregious.”
Halloran, who represented College Point, Bayside, Bay Terrace, Whitestone, Douglaston, Little Neck, and Auburndale-Flushing, was convicted last summer of accepting $15,000 in bribes from undercover FBI operatives. Smith was convicted last month, as was a former high-ranking Queens GOP operative. Both are awaiting sentencing.
An attorney for Halloran told the court he apologizes to “the people he hurt for the choices he made.”
Judge slams ex-Queens pol Halloran with 10 years for Smith bribe plot
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