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Thursday, March 28, 2024 | Back issues
Courthouse News Service Courthouse News Service

Convicted NY Politician Loses Law License

MANHATTAN (CN) — Former New York Senate Democratic leader John Sampson will not be a lawyer anymore.

A panel of New York Appellate Division judges agreed Tuesday to disbar Sampson amid claims that he was still practicing law after being suspended in March.

The politician's troubles began with his April 2013 indictment by a federal grand jury on nine charges, including lying to an FBI agent, embezzlement and obstructing justice.

The embezzlement charges eventually were thrown out when Sampson had argued that they fell outside the statute of limitations.

Sampson also argued entrapment but he was convicted in July 2015.

According to press reports, Sampson attempted to represent a client in a custody matter shortly after the suspension of his law license in March 2016.

Prosecutors say Sampson embezzled about $440,000 as a court-appointed referee on foreclosed properties.

A federal judge in Brooklyn is set to sentence Sampson on Jan. 18, 2017.

Sampson was first elected to the New York Senate in 1996. He made a failed bid to become district attorney of the state in 2005. Sampson was later ousted as Democratic leader in 2012 after three years in the position when Democrats failed to regain control of the Senate.

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