By REBECCA TUCKER, Special to the Sun September 28, 2005Clarence Norman Jr., the longtime powerbroker of Brooklyn Democrats and the primary target of a wide-ranging investigation into judicial corruption in the county, was found guilty yesterday of intentionally soliciting illegal campaign contributions.
After beginning deliberations Monday, a predominantly black and female jury in state Supreme Court in Brooklyn convicted Norman, 54, of two felony counts of violating election law, one felony count of falsifying business records, and one misdemeanor count of falsifying business records.
Norman faces up to eight years in prison, prosecutors said, with sentencing before Justice Martin Marcus scheduled for November 29.
One of the most powerful black politicians in the state, Norman immediately resigned as chairman of Brooklyn's Democratic Party, an organization whose influence has waned as its corruption problems have escalated. As a convicted felon, Norman is also banished from the state Assembly seat in Crown Heights that he held for 23 years. Because the vacancy occurred after September 20, Governor Pataki has the option of calling for a special election to fill the seat before next year's November general election, according to sources in the governor's office.
Yesterday's verdict represented a major vindication for Brooklyn's veteran district attorney, Charles "Joe" Hynes. The verdict comes weeks after he eked out a victory in a hard-fought district attorney primary race in which his opponents accused him of turning a blind eye to corruption in a county plagued with allegations of judicial bribery. Supporters of Norman questioned whether the motives behind Mr. Hynes's investigation of Norman had to do more with politics than justice. Mayor Koch reportedly questioned the prosecution's intent to criminalize what he considered to be an ethics issue.
A Democratic political consultant, Hank Sheinkopf, said Mr. Hynes "has reclaimed the mantle of reformer and corruption-fighter that some have tried to take away from him,"
For Norman, it was a stunning defeat for a man who staged public rallies in his defense and who led a march with his father, a well-known Brooklyn pastor, and other supporters to Brooklyn's district attorney's office, where he turned himself in after he was indicted on October 9, 2003. Dapper in a three-piece suit with a handkerchief spilling out of his breast pocket, Norman sat stone-faced while the jury read its verdict. Minutes later, outside the courthouse, Norman rose to his defense." The facts substantiated that we did no wrong," Norman said to a pack of reporters.
The prosecutor in the case, Michael Vecchione, who heads the Rackets Division for the Brooklyn district attorney, told reporters after the verdict came in, "The world of Brooklyn politics is not the same today as it was yesterday."
The case hinged on whether the jury believed Norman knowingly broke campaign finance laws to cover costs for his 2000 and 2002 primary campaigns or whether it was a more innocent matter of shoddy bookkeeping.
The jury found that Norman knowingly solicited more than $10,000 in campaign contributions from Ralph Bombardiere, a lobbyist for the New York State Association of Service Stations and Repair Shops, and then tried to conceal the donations. In both campaigns, the amount solicited exceeded the legal limit of $3,100. The money, prosecutors charged, went to pay for such campaign items such as thousands of plastic bags emblazoned with Norman's name, but did not enrich him personally.
Norman faced charges that were included in four indictments against him and the party's executive director, Jeffrey Feldman. The other three indictments accuse Norman of using the judicial nominating system to steer contracts to favored consultants, accepting more than $5,000 in reimbursements from the Assembly for travel that had already been paid for by the county party, and depositing a $5,000 check made out to his re-election committee into his personal bank account, the Associated Press reported.
The indictments stem from Mr. Hynes's 2003 probe into reports of the buying and selling of judgeships and justices in Brooklyn. Although the party in the county has lost clout with voters, it has enormous influence over the selection of judges, a system in which party contributions by prospective judicial candidates are reputed to be a prerequisite for party nominations. The probe into illegal activity was triggered by the arrest of Judge Gerald Garson, who was charged with accepting gifts in return for fixing divorce cases.
