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De Blasio Fundraiser Found Guilty in Police Corruption Trial

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio / AP
January 2, 2019

A major fundraiser for New York City mayor Bill de Blasio was found guilty by a jury on Wednesday morning on federal corruption charges related to gifts he provided to members of the New York Police Department in exchange for special treatment.

Prosecutors showed the jury over the months-long corruption trial that Jeremy Reichberg, a Brooklyn businessman who had raised money for de Blasio's election campaigns, used his relationship with the police for favors such as giving a woman he was dating a police escort for a trip to a nail salon. Reichberg was said to have showered top law enforcement officials with gifts, expensive dinners, and trips on private jets with prostitutes.

Reichberg's actions were revealed in testimony by his friend Jona Rechnitz, a fellow de Blasio fundraiser who cut a deal with prosecutors and offered days of testimony during the trial.

A prostitute had previously disclosed how she was paid by Reichberg to have sex with two cops aboard a private jet. She said Reichberg watched and instructed her what to do during the flight.

The NYPD official charged for accepting the bribes was found not guilty by the jury, which didn't see enough evidence to prove the official did favors for Reichberg in exchange for the gifts, according to the New York Post.