By Matthew Russell Lee, Periscope video
NEW YORK CITY, February 8 – Norman Seabrook, former head of the NYC Corrections Officers union, was sentenced on February 8 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to 58 months in prison and ordered to pay $19 million in restitution, jointly and severally with the hedge funders he was convicted of taking briber from to street union money to their fund.
But at the end of the more than two hour proceeding Seabrook appeared to win the right to remain free on bail pending appeal from SDNY Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein. Afterward on Worth Street Inner City Press asked Seabrook about the victim statement urging Judge Hellerstein to search YouTube for a video of him calling the union's members racial derogatory terms. Seabrook told Inner City Press that people can doctor video. His (actual) answer on Periscope here.
Seabrook's lawyer Paul Shechtman also spoke after the sentencing. Inner City Press asked him about Judge Hellerstein's seeming reversal of an initial position that it would be hard to leave Seabrook out on bail pending appeal. Shechtman replied affably that he had to win something, after the 58 month sentence. Video here.
Inner City Press asked Shechtman about the restitution, how much would be paid by hedge funders Murray Huberfeld, Jona Rechnitz and perhaps (Judge Hellerstein indicated) Jeremy Reichberg. Shechtman told Inner City Press, If Norman wins $19 million in the lottery, we'll have about that. For now, $2500 is due in 60 days, through the SDNY Clerk, for the union. We'll have more on this.
Upcoming in the SDNY is a recently-filed complaint by the Bangladesh Central Bank for the $81 million hacking of its funds, which were then wired through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, a case that Inner City Press will cover. Times change. Watch this site.
