Disgraced ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. looking for new lawyer as retrial looms for embezzlement charges
Judge bars him from involvement in Bronx health clinic
Comments (3)By John Marzulli / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Tuesday, June 5, 2012, 6:57 PM
Former State Sen. Pedro Espada Jr. (center) and his son Pedro Gautier Espada, (left, in purple tie) leave Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday following a conference regarding his retrial on corruption charges.
Convicted felon Pedro Espada Jr. and his son are shopping for a new defense team as they face a retrial on embezzlement charges.
The piggy ex-pol told reporters that "scheduling" conflicts led him to part ways with longtime legal mouthpiece Susan Necheles and co-counsel Russell Gioiella.
The former Bronx state senator could be in a financial squeeze with the loss of government funding of the clinics, which have been forced to close due to non-payment of malpractice insurance premiums for its doctors.
Federal Judge Frederic Block put off scheduling a new trial date until the Espadas find new lawyers.
Espada was convicted last month of stealing more than $400,000 from his non-profit Soundview health center for personal expenses. The jury failed to reach a verdict against him and son Pedro Gautier Espada on four remaining counts. They also face trial in Manhattan Federal Court on related tax charges.
"There are no plea talks going on with the government," Espada said outside Brooklyn Federal Court.
The judge also granted prosecutors' request to bar Espada from having anything to do with Soundview as a new condition of his $750,000 bail.
Espada was earning a six-figure salary at the same time he was billing the health center for dinners, vacations, gifts for his wife and renovations to his Westchester home.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/disgraced-ex-state-sen-pedro-espada-jr-lawyer-retrial-looms-embezzlement-charges-article-1.1090506#ixzz1x1TdMwUQ
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