Sheldon Silver

Sheldon Silver (February 13, 1944 – January 24, 2022) was an American Democratic Party politician, attorney, and convicted felon from New York City who served as Speaker of the New York State Assembly from 1994 to 2015. A native of Manhattan's Lower East Side, Silver served in the New York State Assembly from 1977 to 2015. In 1994, he was elected as Speaker; he held that position for two decades. During this period, Silver was known as one of the most powerful politicians in the state.

Silver was arrested on federal corruption charges in early 2015, and resigned as Speaker of the Assembly shortly afterward. At his trial that November, he was convicted of all charges; the felony convictions triggered his automatic expulsion from the Assembly. Silver's conviction was overturned on appeal, but in May 2018, following a retrial, he was found guilty on the same charges. After another appeal, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals dismissed the guilty verdicts for three of the charges but upheld them for four others. Silver was resentenced in July 2020 to 6+1⁄2 years in prison and a $1 million fine. He was released on May 4, 2021 under a provision of the CARES Act, which allows prison bureaus to release those deemed vulnerable to COVID-19, but was recalled to a medical-care specialized federal prison two days later. He died at a hospital in Ayer, Massachusetts on January 24, 2022, while still serving his sentence.