A ruling by a federal magistrate, denying the effort of former Falls Mayor Vince Anello to have public corruption charges against him thrown out is “clearly erroneous and contrary to law.”
That charge is leveled in a filing made in U.S. District Court on Wednesday by Anello’s defense team. The former mayor’s lawyers are asking U.S. District Court Judge William Skretny not to adopt recommendations made by U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah McCarthy that would deny Anello’s move to have a multi-count federal indictment against him dismissed.
In late July, McCarthy rejected arguments that prosecutors failed to properly lay out their case against the former mayor in the indictment and dismissed defense claims the charges are unconstitutional.
Anello is charged with single felony counts of conspiracy and obstruction and two counts of scheme to deprive honest services. The charges stem from his dealings with Tuscarora businessman and developer Joseph Anderson and three loans that Anello received from him.
The former mayor has claimed the checks represented “interest-free loans” from Anderson to his electrical contracting business. Prosecutors charge Anderson gave Anello the loans so he could become “a player” in development projects in the Falls.
In his request to Skretny, defense attorney Joel Daniels makes many of the same arguments he made to McCarthy. Among them, that prosecutors fail, in the indictment, to show a quid pro quo between Anello and Anderson.
Daniels has maintained there is no proof Anello took the loans from Anderson in return for his influence in getting the businessman a favorable lease for the city’s East Pedestrian Mall. Prosecutors argued, and McCarthy agreed, that they don’t need to provide proof of anything before the case goes to trial.
“The indictment alleges (Anello) had ‘potential motivation’ to help Joe Anderson,”’ Daniels writes in the filing. “That may be the government’s best guess but ... speculation, surmise or assumptions don’t cut it; there must be some form of an actual understanding between these parties.”
Daniels also makes the claim, again, that the honest services charges against Anello are so broad they are unconstitutional.
Prosecutors contend the loans Anello received from Anderson, totaling $40,000, deprived “the city of the intangible right of the honest services of a public official” because he took the loans while Anderson was doing business with the city and failed to disclose the loans as required by the city’s Ethics Law.
Anderson has pleaded guilty to a single count of scheme to deprive and is currently free on his own recognizance. Skretny has delayed sentencing for Anderson because he’s cooperating with federal prosecutors.
At a hearing during the last week of July, government lawyers said Anderson was “still cooperating” with them and asked for the delay. A status conference on Anderson’s sentencing had now been set for Oct. 29.
Courts
ANELLO CASE: Fight to dismiss charges continues
- Courts
-
-
Davis will not seek Murphy removal
Lawyers for accused killer Matthew “Bones” Davis say their client will not ask to have Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III removed from his case.
-
Man charged in Casal attack says Falls boxer was the aggressor
An assault charge filed against a Town of Niagara man accused of attacking Niagara Falls boxer Nick Casal is heading to the grand jury.
-
Falls teen reaches agreement in shooting death of student
A Niagara Falls teenager has accepted a plea agreement in the shooting death of a Niagara University student who was killed in a “robbery gone bad” late last year.
-
Judge may step down in murder case
Lawyers for accused killer Matthew "Bones" Davis will have 10 days to decide whether or not they will ask Niagara County Court Judge Matthew J. Murphy III to step down from the case.
-
NT drug dealer gets 92-month sentence
The North Tonawanda man guilty of helping run a cocaine ring stretching from the Town of Tonawanda to Niagara Falls will spend nearly the next eight years behind bars.
-
Lewiston jet boat suit tossed
The second of two lawsuits brought against the Village of Lewiston and Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours has been dismissed.
-
Matthew Davis arraigned in Bradberry homicide case
When Robert Bradberry walked into a Niagara County courtroom Tuesday afternoon, he was surprised by the man he saw in shackles and an orange jumpsuit.
-
Sixth delay granted in Toohey case
Sentencing in federal court for a disbarred Lewiston lawyer has now been postponed for the sixth time.
-
Ten-year term for former Falls sub who had sex with a student
His victim’s mother called him “a monster.”
She also told John Summerson, that if should ever “have children”, she hoped “he never has to feel what I feel.” -
Former coroner, fire chief fined, to perform community service
Former Fourth District Coroner Russell Jackman and soon-to-be-former Cambria Volunteer Fire Co. Chief Vincent Salerno will each pay a fine totaling $1,000 and perform 100 hours of community service for their improper handling of human remains after a traffic fatality last month.
- More Courts Headlines
-
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
CEO Salaries Become Sore Issue in Labor Disputes
Raw Video: Fight Erupts in Ukrainian Parliament
Texan Ranchers Remain Wary of Drought
Raw Video: Soldiers Plant Flags at Arlington
Police: Man Arrested in Etan Patz Disappearance
NYC Protests: the Revolution Will Be Scripted
Chicago U.S. Attorney Fitzgerald Resigns
Neighbors of Etan Patz's Suspect: It's Shocking
Gulf Fishermen Reel From Seafood Troubles
Stuntman Makes Skydive Without Parachute in UK
