D’Amato’s Brother Charged in Defense Payoff Scheme
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UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato’s brother was charged Wednesday with mail fraud for allegedly accepting $120,500 in payoffs from a defense contractor in return for promises to lobby his brother for federal contracts.
The Republican senator was not aware of the scheme and has not been accused of any wrongdoing, federal officials said.
Armand D’Amato, 47, of Island Park, N.Y., faces five years in prison and a $250,000 fine if convicted of all 24 counts. He is expected to be arraigned next week.
“We are pleading not guilty to the charges in the indictment, and we will go to trial,” said his attorney, Paul Rooney. “I am confident we will establish Mr. D’Amato’s innocence.”
He also has the support of his brother, who was on a committee that controlled federal weapons spending when Armand D’Amato allegedly was collecting $6,500 a month in illegal payments.
The indictment, filed in U.S. District Court, alleges that the payoffs were funneled to D’Amato by a Sperry-Unisys Corp. executive through a Virginia subsidiary.
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