U.S. Judge Paul Oetken has granted the former lieutenant governor's move to dismiss three counts of bribery and fraud but refused to dismiss falsification charges. 

At the time of Benjamin’s indictment, the Manhattan U.S. attorney’s office described the case as “a simple story of corruption” involving a quid pro quo scheme.

The case concerns Benjamin’s failed 2021 campaign for New York City comptroller, during which prosecutors alleged he secured campaign contributions from a real estate developer, Gerald Migdol, in exchange for steering $50,000 in taxpayer funds to a nonprofit organization that Migdol ran, Friends of Public School Harlem, Inc., that donates supplies and other resources to school programs in Harlem. 

As laid out in the indictment, Benjamin attended a meeting at Migdol’s home in March 2019 and told the developer he wanted Migdol’s help to procure small donations to the comptroller campaign. Benjamin, at that point a member of the state Senate, wanted to take advantage of New York City’s matching funds program, which provides candidates with public funds based on the number of donor contributions they secure.

Migdol told Benjamin his experience of such fundraising was limited. Benjamin allegedly replied, “Let me see what I can do,” according to the indictment. 

In May 2019, Benjamin learned he had additional discretionary state funding to distribute in his Senate district, with $50,000 intended for educational purposes specifically. Benjamin called Migdol and told him that he could give that sum to Migdol’s charity. 

Two weeks later, Migdol met with Benjamin to offer him two $10,000 checks in the names of two of Migdol’s relatives, the indictment said. Another $5,000 check came from a limited liability company Migdol runs.

At the same meeting, Benjamin also allegedly directed Migdol to fill out blank contribution forms and was present as Migdol signed the names of his relatives. Benjamin reviewed the forms and handed them back to Migdol with further instructions, the indictment charged, further stating that from October 2019 until January 2021, Migdol continued securing small campaign contributions for Benjamin.

Benjamin later concealed the exchange during the vetting process to become Gov. Kathy Hochul’s lieutenant governor and running mate ahead of the recent election, the indictment alleged. 

Oetken wrote that while the indictment does not adequately state that Benjamin “made an ‘explicit’ agreement with Migdol that his conduct as a state senator would be controlled in exchange for campaign contributions,” the two charges it outlined relative to the cover-up of that scheme do stand. 

“That is ultimately an issue for the jury,” Oetken wrote in his response to Benjamin’s motion claiming that he could not have foreseen an investigation because he did not consider his actions wrong — thereby challenging the two counts of falsification that Oetken ultimately let stand on Monday.

Benjamin was arrested on April 12 and resigned from his executive role that same day. Last month, Hochul and the man she picked to replace Benjamin, former U.S. Rep. Antonio Delgado, were elected to full terms.

Benjamin’s attorneys Barry Berke and Dani James called the judge’s action a “vindication.”

“Today’s decision shows how these wrongful charges so harmed Mr. Benjamin and unfairly cost him his position as lieutenant governor,” Berke said in a statement. “The dismissal of this now-discredited bribery theory also makes clear how the indictment was a direct assault on the democratic process. … While today is a great day for justice, democracy and the rule of law, it is tragic that this case was ever brought and such a decision was necessary.”

The case comes against the backdrop of a tightening legal landscape for prosecutors seeking to pursue federal corruption charges. The U.S. Supreme Court recently heard arguments in the appeals of Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to ex-Gov. Andrew Cuomo who was convicted on bribery and fraud charges, and Louis Ciminelli, a businessman who was also convicted in the “Buffalo Billion” bid-rigging case connected that also ensnared Alain Kaloyeros, the founder of Albany Nanotech. Legal observers said the oral arguments in those cases suggested a majority of the justices were likely to find for the defendants.

The Supreme Court is expected to release decisions in those cases next year.