A federal jury in Manhattan on Wednesday convicted former New York City jail-union leader Norman Seabrook of taking a $60,000 payoff to invest $20 million in pension money with Platinum Partners, a now-defunct hedge fund. Seabrook, 58, was found guilty of conspiracy and bribery-related fraud on the second day of jury deliberations after a two-week-long retrial that featured testimony from star federal corruption informant Jona Rechnitz. A jury deadlocked last year on the same charges. During a day of complicated courtroom wrangling, the jury first announced its bribery verdict and said it was deadlocked on conspiracy. While the judge and lawyers met in a side room to discuss continuing deliberations, Seabrook sat awkwardly feet away staring at the jurors. He then told his wife and family members to “stop crying,” turned to a reporter with a grin and declared, “I’m still smiling.” Later, outside court, he shook hands with U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman and pledged an appeal. “I will be vindicated because God is still on his throne,” he said. Berman, in a statement, linked Seabrook’s case to four other public corruption convictions this year — of former Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, former State Senate leader Dean Skelos, ex-SUNY official Alain Kaloyeros and Joe Percoco, once a top aide to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo. “As long as there are public servants who put self-interest above the people they are sworn to serve, public corruption will remain a top priority,” he said. The former head of the 9,000-member Correction Officers Benevolent Association, Seabrook was once one of the city's most influential labor leaders, a man who favored nice cigars and fancy suits, had a powerful voice in city politics and was said to harbor aspirations of some day running for mayor. Sign up to get the latest updates Get Newsday's Breaking News alerts in your inbox. By clicking Sign up, you agree to our privacy policy. Seabrook claimed he was framed by Rechnitz, a rich real estate operator at the center of federal corruption probes of City Hall and the NYPD in 2016 after becoming an informant, pleading guilty to corruption-related crimes and telling prosecutors he gave money and perks to top cops and politicians in return for favors and access. But the jury of 10 women and two men apparently credited Rechnitz’s testimony that he befriended Seabrook, took him on vacations to Israel and the Dominican Republic, and in 2014 delivered a $60,000 cash bribe in a Ferragamo bag as a go-between for Platinum founder Murray Huberfeld after Seabrook said in a drunken conversation, “It’s time for Norman to get paid.” Attacks on Rechnitz’s credibility — he raised money for two Ponzi schemers and admitted lying dozens of times to impress people, finagle official perks and make money — contributed to the hung jury at Seabrook’s first trial in November. At the retrial, the cross was shorter and he appeared better prepared, lawyers said. Jurors, who eventually found Seabrook guilty of conspiracy after about an hour of additional deliberation Wednesday afternoon, mostly declined to comment leaving court, and some were crying. Richard Wade, one who spoke, called it a “tough case” and said he didn’t find Rechnitz particularly trustworthy. “But the look in his eyes said he was broken,” Wade said. “So I don’t think he was lying any more.” Seabrook, however, complained after the verdict that he had been the victim of a double standard because prosecutors did not charge Mayor Bill de Blasio based on Rechnitz’s claims that he got access to City Hall in return for donations, but relied on Rechnitz to win Wednesday’s convictions. “Now, all of a sudden his story is true,” he told reporters. Two rulings by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein may figure in any appeal. The judge allowed prosecutors at the retrial to prove that the union eventually lost $19 million of the $20 million invested, dismissing defense arguments that the outcome didn’t prove Seabrook was bribed. And during deliberations, he at first refused to take a partial verdict from the jury on one count, and then gave jurors additional legal instructions requested by prosecutors about the bribery charge before reversing himself and agreeing to accept a verdict on only that count. “I think we have strong grounds for appeal,” Seabrook lawyer Paul Shechtman said. Seabrook’s sentencing was scheduled for Nov. 30. Huberfeld pleaded guilty after the first trial. Platinum is in bankruptcy.<doc-sep>Still, the government relied on Mr. Rechnitz’s testimony to build a narrative that ultimately led to Mr. Seabrook’s conviction. Mr. Rechnitz, who pleaded guilty to fraud conspiracy and is cooperating with the government, said he brokered a deal between Mr. Seabrook and Murray Huberfeld, a family friend and the founder of the hedge fund Platinum Partners. Mr. Seabrook agreed to invest the union’s retirement money in Mr. Huberfeld’s fund, and in exchange, Mr. Huberfeld would pay him a cut of the profit, the government said. Mr. Seabrook ended up investing $20 million in the fund, $19 million of which the union eventually lost. It was a risky proposition for the prosecution to once again depend on Mr. Rechnitz, whose inconsistent testimony in the last trial seemed to lead to the hung jury. A juror in the fall referred to him as a “straight-up liar.” The government said that the bribe was delivered in a nearly cinematic scene: One December evening, Mr. Rechnitz took $60,000 in cash from a safe in his office and crammed the bills into a handbag he had purchased from the Salvatore Ferragamo store, Mr. Seabrook’s favorite designer. He then delivered the bag to Mr. Seabrook before they attended a Torah dedication ceremony together. Mr. Huberfeld, who was Mr. Seabrook’s co-defendant in the first trial, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy in May. In this trial, Mr. Rechnitz was caught in fewer inconsistencies on the stand, and he seemed more prepared to answer the defense’s questions. He also spent less time talking about his relationship with Mr. de Blasio, testimony that dominated much of the first trial. At that time, he said he had donated tens of thousands of dollars to Mr. de Blasio’s re-election campaign in exchange for a direct line to City Hall, including the mayor’s personal phone number and email address. During the second trial, prosecutors kept Mr. Rechnitz’s testimony more narrowly focused on his shady business dealings and on the payment to Mr. Seabrook.<doc-sep>Rechnitz, the star government witness in both of Seabrook’s trials, was more prepared the second time around. Where Rechnitz appeared evasive and shady in the first trial, the second time around he openly addressed his greed and deceit and appeared regretful.<doc-sep>After less than three hours of deliberations, the jury overseeing the bribery trial of ex-NYC union boss Norman Seabrook said Tuesday that it has reached a partial verdict. The nine women and three men of the jury told Manhattan federal Judge Alvin Hellerstein that they were unanimous on one of Seabrook’s bribery counts but “deadlocked on the other charge with no possibility of a resolution.” The judge, who got the note roughly two and a half hours after the jury began deliberating, told them he would not accept their “partial verdict.” “You’ve been out only three hours — a little less. You haven’t deliberated enough,” he said. Seabrook, the once powerful head of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association union representing Rikers’ guards, stands accused of steering a whopping $20 million of COBA money into troubled hedge fund Platinum Partners in exchange for cash. His first trial in 2017 was tossed due to a deadlocked jury.<doc-sep>
BRONX, New York -- A former union boss who was once thought of as the king of New York City's jails may be headed to federal prison.A jury in Manhattan on Wednesday convicted Norman Seabrook, the former head of the union representing guards at the troubled Rikers Island jail complex, of honest services wire fraud and conspiracy.Seabrook maintains he is innocent of charges he accepted $60,000 in bribes in exchange for investing millions of dollars in union pension money in a risky hedge fund.For two decades, Seabrook was head of the New York City Correction Officers' Benevolent Association and was a powerful figure in political circles. Some wardens said his control over the jail rivaled their own.Seabrook was convicted partly on the testimony of the man who persuaded him to invest in the hedge fund run by Platinum Partners. That witness, Jona Rechnitz, who was also a lavish political donor to Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio, told jurors he talked Seabrook into the investment on a free trip to the Dominican Republic, then later handed off $60,000 in a designer bag.Defense attorney Paul Shechtman told jurors that Rechnitz was a world-class liar. "If they had a Nobel Prize in manipulation, Jona Rechnitz would be a recipient," Shechtman said. "You can fault Norman Seabrook for falling for Jona Rechnitz's act. "Assistant U.S. Attorney Martin Bell insisted there were "multiple independent sources," including phone and bank records, to corroborate Rechnitz's story.Seabrook, 58, was charged in 2016. His first trial ended with a deadlocked jury, and prosecutors put him on trial again. Jury deliberations in his retrial began Tuesday.Jurors initially delivered a split verdict Wednesday, convicting Seabrook of honest services fraud but telling the judge they were deadlocked on the conspiracy charge. But after further deliberations, they came back with a guilty verdict on the conspiracy count later Wednesday.Rikers has long been seen as troubled by violence among inmates, excessive force by guards and avoidable prisoner deaths. A Department of Justice investigation found in 2014 that there was a pattern of excessive force and violence that violated the rights of adolescent prisoners. City officials are closing the jail and replacing it with smaller institutions they hope will be more humane.----------