Five Political Scandals To (Sorta) Shake Brooklyn
Carl Kruger’s Bribe Economy – 2011
Back in 2011, things went pretty awry for another stalwart Brooklyn Democrat, then-State Senator Carl Kruger, with the release of a 53-page criminal complaint detailing what turned out to be a massive “broad-based bribery racket” Kruger had set up with a few colleagues, including fellow Brooklyn Democrat Assemblyman William F. Boyland Jr.
In exchange for lifting bureaucratic red tape for everyone from lobbyists to hospitals to corporations, Kruger had taken in over $1 million in bribes in order to fund things like a beloved four-door Bentley and a lavish Mill Basin home once belonging to the Luchese crime family.
In spite of a publicly maligned vote against a 2009 Senate Bill favoring same-sex marriage, Kruger was rumored to have had a romantic affair with Michael Turano, a gynecologist who had been one of his many co-conspirators and with whom he reportedly resided at the Mill Basin property.
Claiming that he wanted to spare Turano the difficulties of a prolonged public trial, Kruger pled guilty and was given a 7-year prison sentence this past April.
