Judge Denies Ex-NY Assembly Speaker Bail Pending Appeal

NEW YORK (AP) — A judge has denied an ex-New York Assembly speaker bail pending the appeal of his corruption conviction and seven-year prison term.

U.S. District Judge Valerie Caproni said in a written opinion Monday that the substance of Sheldon Silver's appeal lacks merit.

She noted the 74-year-old Silver's age and said the true purpose of his appeal is to postpone his day of reckoning. Silver is scheduled to report to prison Oct. 5.

Silver was sentenced to 12 years in prison after his first conviction in 2015. That conviction was overturned after the U.S. Supreme Court redefined the boundaries of public corruption.

A second jury convicted him earlier this year. Prosecutors said he earned $5 million illegally.