Current:Home > ContactFormer New York comptroller Alan Hevesi, tarnished by public scandals, dies at 83 -TrueNorth Capital Hub
Former New York comptroller Alan Hevesi, tarnished by public scandals, dies at 83
View
Date:2025-04-16 06:56:44
NEW YORK (AP) — Alan Hevesi, a longtime elected official from New York City who resigned as state comptroller amid one scandal and later served prison time after a “pay-to-play” corruption probe, died Thursday. He was 83.
A release from his family said he passed away peacefully surrounded by his children and loved ones. He died of Lewy body dementia, according to a spokesperson.
Though his two-part downfall made him a symbol of corruption in New York politics, he was a respected state lawmaker for much of his career.
The former Queens College professor won a state Assembly seat in 1971 and served more than two decades in the chamber, gaining a reputation as an impressive debater with an interest in health care issues.
He won the New York City comptroller’s job in 1993, though he fell short in a 2001 bid for the Democratic nomination for mayor. He won the state comptroller’s election the next year.
As Hevesi ran for reelection in 2006, a state ethics commission found he had violated the law by using a staffer as a driver for his seriously ill wife for three years and not paying for it until after his Republican opponent raised the issue.
Hevesi was still reelected by a wide margin, but he never made it to his second term. About six weeks later, he pleaded guilty to defrauding the government and resigned. He paid a $5,000 fine.
His legal problems continued after he left office.
Over the next four years, a sweeping state investigation by then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo showed that officials and cronies got fees and favors from financiers seeking chunks of the state retirement fund to manage. As comptroller, Hevesi was the fund’s sole trustee.
He pleaded guilty to a felony corruption charge in October 2010, admitting he accepted free travel and campaign contributions from a financier in exchange for investing hundreds of millions of dollars of state pension money with the businessman’s firm.
“I will never forgive myself. I will live with this shame for the rest of my life,” he said at his sentencing in April 2011.
Hevesi served 20 months of what could have been a four-year prison sentence.
His son Andrew serves in the Assembly. Another son was a state senator.
veryGood! (8)
Related
- Whoopi Goldberg is delightfully vile as Miss Hannigan in ‘Annie’ stage return
- Why break should be 'opportunity week' for Jim Harbaugh's Chargers to improve passing game
- NFL Week 4 winners, losers: Steelers, Eagles pay for stumbles
- Barbra Streisand, Dolly Parton, Martin Scorsese and more stars pay tribute to Kris Kristofferson
- South Korea's acting president moves to reassure allies, calm markets after Yoon impeachment
- Murder in a Small Town’s Rossif Sutherland and Kristin Kreuk Detail “Thrilling” New Series
- Colton Underwood and Husband Jordan C. Brown Welcome First Baby
- Biden plans survey of devastation in North Carolina as Helene’s death toll tops 130
- The city of Chicago is ordered to pay nearly $80M for a police chase that killed a 10
- Desperate Housewives' Marcia Cross Shares Her Health Advice After Surviving Anal Cancer
Ranking
- Off the Grid: Sally breaks down USA TODAY's daily crossword puzzle, Triathlon
- Here’s how Helene and other storms dumped a whopping 40 trillion gallons of rain on the South
- 2 ex-officers did not testify at their trial in Tyre Nichols’ death. 1 still could
- Rebel Wilson and Ramona Agruma Make Debut as Married Couple During Paris Fashion Week
- NFL Week 15 picks straight up and against spread: Bills, Lions put No. 1 seed hopes on line
- Sex Lives of College Girls' Pauline Chalamet Gives Birth, Welcomes First Baby
- Biden administration doubles down on tough asylum restrictions at border
- Las Vegas memorial to mass shooting victims should be complete by 10th anniversary
Recommendation
New data highlights 'achievement gap' for students in the US
Is 'The Simpsons' ending? Why the show aired its 'series finale' Sunday
Convicted murderer released in the ‘90s agrees to life sentence on 2 new murder charges
The stock market's as strong as it's ever been, but there's a catch
Questlove charts 50 years of SNL musical hits (and misses)
Julianne Hough Claps Back at Critics Who Told Her to Eat a Cheeseburger After Sharing Bikini Video
NBA players, coaches, GMs react to Dikembe Mutombo's death: 'He made us who we are.'
NBA players, coaches, GMs react to Dikembe Mutombo's death: 'He made us who we are.'