Brooklyn Assemblyman William Boyland Jr. has been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York with corruption and soliciting bribes. Boyland was seeking money to help pay for the attorneys who defended him on unrelated, similar charges in New York’s Southern District. The lawmaker had been acquitted of the earlier bribery charges less than two weeks ago.
The FBI began investigating Boyland earlier this year, after the South District charges had been filed. Undercover agents, posing as businessmen, met with Boyland in Atlantic City where he solicited $250,000 as a “donation” toward his legal fees. The dialogue between the parties included Boyland stating “I have a good attorney I just can’t pay him.” Boyland also suggested that the money would not only cover his legal fees but help him “come back in a bigger sense.”
The parties met again a few months later. This time, the agents drew back from offering such a large sum of money and instead proposed giving $5,000 to start. No funds ever changed hands but the investigation into Boyland gained momentum leading to this second arrest. An Assistant Director in Charge with the FBI stated “the charges announced today are all the more astonishing in light of the fact that Boyland allegedly committed much of the criminal conduct after he had already been charged in another bribery case.”
