The appeal of former Suffolk Legis. Wayne Prospect’s 2006 bribe-taking conviction went before an Appellate Division panel last week, but Prospect’s attorney did not show.
Christopher Cassar, lawyer for the lawmaker-turned-lobbyist, said he was never notified. While prosecutor Michael Miller appeared, there was no oral argument, and the five-judge panel will decide the case based on papers already submitted.
Prospect (left) was sentenced to 2 1/2 to 7 1/2 years for bribe and conspiracy arising from a sting in which he and former Suffolk OTB official Stephen Baranello, 2003 campaign adviser to County Executive Steve Levy, took $10,000 from detectives posing as contractors trying to influence public-works contracts. Baranello, whose late father was once state and county Democratic chairman, made a 2004 plea deal for a 3-to-9 year sentence. Neither begins serving time until Prospect’s appeals are exhausted. Prospect, also facing tax evasion charges, has cancer, requiring him to travel several times a month for treatment, said Cassar. He called the illness “severe” but declined to give details.
Rick Brand