<div id="subtitle">Former NY legislator gets 10 behind bars in kickback scheme</div><div><p>Former Democratic state assemblyman and labor leader Brian McLaughlin was sentenced Wednesday to 10 years in prison after apologizing for abusing his authority in a multimillion-dollar scheme to enrich himself.</p><p>"Of course I'm very, very sorry for all my improper conduct and criminal activity," McLaughlin said in federal court in Manhattan. "I make no excuses for it."</p><p>McLaughlin, 56, served seven terms in the state Assembly before becoming president of the nation's largest municipal labor council.</p><p>He pleaded guilty last year to racketeering charges alleging he secretly skimmed $2.2 million from various sources, including a political campaign committee, union accounts meant to provide benefits for members and even contributions to a Little League baseball program.</p><p>At sentencing, defense attorney Michael Armstrong argued his client — as "a good person who went terribly wrong" — should get a break. McLaughlin himself asked for "the mercy of the court."</p><p>But U.S. District Judge Richard Sullivan told McLaughlin he deserved a tough sentence for violating the trust of his constituents. The judge said he would have imposed a 15-year term if the defendant hadn't cooperated with prosecutors.</p><p>"The brazen and perversely creative way you abused that trust just can't be overlooked," the judge said.</p><p>The government had accused McLaughlin, while the highest-ranking official of the J Division of Local 3 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, of turning union members into a private work force. The union members, it said, took his dog to the doctor, hung Christmas lights, shoveled snow, cleaned out a barn and looked for rodents in his basement.</p><p>McLaughlin also admitted he used his position as a state assemblyman between 1997 and 2006 to direct state funds to a rigged community association. He created two bank accounts for the association — one to fund children's athletics, the other for personal use.</p><p>Prosecutors said McLaughlin lived lavishly, buying his wife an $80,000 luxury car and renovating a Long Island home. Other money went to pay rent on Albany and Queens homes and to pay off personal credit bills, they said.</p><p>The judge allowed him to remain free on $250,000 bail until his surrender on July 21.</p><img src="http://admatch-syndication.mochila.com/images/ad.gif?aid=50803440&bid=informcom" /></div><div id="copyright"><div>

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