Asked by one reporter what he would say to constituents who had supported him over the years, he responded, “Thank you.” His lawyers then guided him through the crowd and into a waiting black sedan. 
 
 Mr. Bharara released an equally succinct statement after the verdict: “Today, Sheldon Silver got justice, and at long last, so did the people of New York.” 
 
 Mr. Silver is the most prominent in a parade of state lawmakers who have been convicted by Mr. Bharara’s office. Mr. Silver’s former counterpart, State Senator Dean G. Skelos, a Republican from Long Island who served as Senate majority leader, is also being tried on federal corruption charges; his case, which also includes Mr. Skelos’s son, Adam, entered its third week on Monday. 
 
 For portions of his tenure as speaker, Mr. Silver maintained a viselike hold on the Assembly, withstanding the rare challenge from Democratic colleagues, and brushing off all criticism of his performance. He was faulted for his handling of two sexual harassment allegations; in 2013, a state ethics report criticized him for covering up accusations of sexual harassment against Assemblyman Vito J. Lopez. 
 
 Mr. Silver also stood out in financial disclosure reports that showed him to be one of the largest earners of outside income among New York State politicians, reporting that he had been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars a year by a law firm, Weitz & Luxenberg. That arrangement would become one of the focal points of the government’s case. 
 
 At Mr. Silver’s trial, the government presented evidence that prosecutors said showed he had orchestrated two schemes through which he obtained nearly $4 million in illegal payments for taking official actions that benefited a prominent cancer researcher, Dr. Robert N. Taub, at Columbia University, and two New York real estate development firms. ||||| NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) — Deliberations in the corruption trial of ex-New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver began with drama Tuesday when a juror claimed that other jurors accused her of failing to use her common sense, leaving her feeling “very, very uncomfortable.” 
 
 “I’m feeling pressured, stressed out,” the juror wrote in a note to U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan as she asked to be excused from further deliberations, WCBS 880’s Marla Diamond reported. 
 
 The note, the first word from jurors, came less than two hours after deliberations began. 
 
 Prosecutors accuse Silver of abusing his office for years, collecting millions of dollars in kickbacks for favors provided to a cancer researcher and real estate developers. The defense countered that the once-powerful Democrat did not commit a crime. 
 
 In all, prosecutors claim Silver earned $5 million illegally over more than a decade. Still an assemblyman, the 71-year-old lawyer resigned his leadership post after his January arrest. Silver has pleaded not guilty to bribery and extortion charges. 
 
 In her note, the juror said she had a different opinion and view than other jurors “and it is making me feel very, very uncomfortable.” 
 
 Other jurors, she said, were telling her she was not using her common sense. 
 
 “My heart is pounding and my head feels weird,” she said. “I am so stressed out right now that I can’t even write normally. I don’t feel like I can be myself right now! I need to leave!” 
 
 After a prosecutor recommended she be released as a juror, the judge said it was too early to do so, and said she would urge jurors to respectfully exchange views. 
 
 “Listen to and exchange views with your other jurors,” Caproni said she would tell them. 
 
 The judge said she was further convinced that patience was the best remedy when another note emerged from jurors shortly afterward. In it, the jurors asked if there was a code of conduct or ethics code that clearly stated whether receiving funds for something in return is illegal. 
 
 “It seems there is some deliberation going on,” the judge told lawyers. “It’s too early to throw in the towel.” 
 
 The jury must decide unanimously whether to convict or acquit Silver on the seven charges that he faces. If convicted, he faces up to 130 years in prison. 
 
 The three-week trial wrapped up with Silver’s defense team calling no witnesses and Silver himself refusing to take the stand. 
 
 In closing arguments Monday, the jury heard the case boil down to two conflicting portrayals of the once-powerful Democrat: one as a greedy lawmaker who enriched himself with bribery and another as a seasoned politician who played by the rules regarding outside income. 
 
 “Why did Sheldon Silver do it? He did it for the money,” U.S. Attorney Andrew Goldstein repeatedly told the jury. The evidence, he added, “shows that Sheldon Silver was a master of every form of deception — lying, keeping secrets, even splitting hairs.” 
 
 He also took aim at the defense’s accusation that overzealous prosecutors were trying to criminalize behavior that’s politics as usual in the Assembly. 
 
 “Let’s dispense with the nonsense … and let’s talk about the evidence, which Sheldon Silver tried desperately to keep secret for years,” he said. 
 
 Defense attorney Steven Molo countered by accusing the government of embracing a flawed theory of a circumstantial case. In their eyes, “If a fact gets in a way of that theory, you ignore it, and if you can’t ignore it, you twist it,” he said. 
 
 He added: “A lesser person would have folded, but Sheldon Silver is a fighter. He knows he did not commit a crime. There was no quid quo pro. He did not sell his office.” 
 
 Silver’s trial is taking place simultaneously with that of state Sen. Dean Skelos and his son at a nearby courthouse on charges that the Republican badgered companies reliant upon his legislative support to funnel more than $300,000 to the son. 
 
 (TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.) ||||| Sheldon Silver, for decades one of the most powerful politicians in New York state, was convicted Monday of honest-services fraud, extortion and money laundering in a trial that is likely to reshape the business of Albany and embolden prosecutors with an appetite for public-corruption cases aimed at the Capitol. 
 
 The Democratic speaker of the New York state Assembly for more than 20 years, Mr. Silver was found guilty by a 12-person federal jury in Manhattan of four counts of honest-services fraud, two counts of extortion,...
– US Attorney Preet Bharara has won a massive victory in his quest to get rid of what he calls a "cauldron of corruption" in New York's state capital. Sheldon Silver, the former longtime New York State Assembly speaker, has been found guilty of federal corruption charges and faces many years in prison, reports the New York Times, which calls the Democrat "one of the most feared politicians" in the state. After nearly three days of deliberation, a jury found the 71-year-old guilty of abusing his powers over the state budget by taking part in two schemes that made him around $4 million, Wall Street Journal reports. He will automatically be kicked out of the assembly after nearly 40 years as a member and more than 20 as speaker. In one scheme, Silver directed state funds to a cancer researcher who ensured Silver won hefty referral fees from a law firm he sent patients to, the New York Daily News reports. In the second, Silver negotiated tax breaks for a developer that sent its business to another law firm that paid him referral fees, the Journal reports. The payments were discovered when an anti-corruption committee scrutinized his outside income. Silver was found guilty on seven counts and could face a sentence of up to 120 years in federal prison, reports the Times, which notes that a prosecutor described his conduct as government not "by the people or for the people," but "by Sheldon Silver for Sheldon Silver." (After less than two hours of deliberations, a "stressed out" juror asked to go home.)