Bribery

New York has become more and more strict on prosecuting crimes involving bribery over the years. This crime has multiple different facets, including that instituting the bribe as well as receiving the bribe are chargeable offenses. In order to make sure these charges are handled properly, call our experienced team of New York criminal attorneys now to discuss what options are available to you.

Bribery in itself has three degrees of chargeable actions. In its lowest form, bribery in the third degree, is charged when a person has offered, conferred or agreed to confer any benefit upon a public servant based on an agreement or understanding that the public servant’s judgement, opinion, decision, vote, action or discretion is influenced. This charge, even in its lowest form, is a class D felony. If a person has offered, conferred or agreed to confer any benefit in excess of $5,000 for their influence on the public servant’s actions as previously described, this charge becomes a class C felony. The benefit transferred does not have to be money directly, it is anything that is valued to be above the $5,000 threshold, meaning it could be items such as jewelry or physical property transferred or given to the person in return for their actions.

Bribery in the first degree is the most serious, as a class B felony, meaning you could be facing a 25-year sentence if convicted and given the maximum punishment. This charge applies when a person has acted in such a way described above to influence a public servant when their intention is to influence the arrest, investigation, prosecution, incarceration or detention of a person who has committed or is alleged to have committed a class A felony, or a benefit of over $100,000 is offered upon completion of the agreement. As like above, the benefit does not have to be money specifically, it is that the value of the benefit is above the threshold.

Those public servants who accept the bribes described above can also be charged with a crime. A public servant who solicits, agrees to accept or accepts any benefit from another for them to perform a specific action, they can be charged with bribe receiving in the third degree which is a class D felony. Just like the charges above for bribery, if the benefit exceeds $5,000 in value, the charge becomes a class C felony. Mirroring the charge for bribery in the first degree, if the actions of the public servant influence the arrest, investigation, prosecution, detention or incarceration of a person charged with an A felony or the value of the benefit is in excess of $100,000, they are charged with a class B felony.

Both being charged with bribery and with accepting a bribe are serious charges that New York State will not hesitate to prosecute to the highest degree, our experienced team of New York criminal attorneys are here and ready to discuss what options are available in handling your case in order to receive the most favorable outcome.