By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Reuters) – A federal appeals court restored the 58-month prison sentence for Norman Seabrook, the former head of New York City’s correction officers union who was convicted of bribery, saying a trial judge should not have reduced the sentence because it was much longer than that of the hedge fund founder who bribed him.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said “nothing extraordinary and compelling” justified U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein’s decision in February 2023 to grant Seabrook, who led the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, compassionate release after he served 21 months in prison.
Hellerstein said it would be “unjust” to keep Seabrook locked up after a different judge shortened the sentence of co-defendant Murray Huberfeld, who helped found the hedge fund firm Platinum Partners and pleaded guilty, to seven months from 30 months.
Prosecutors accused Seabrook, 65, of steering $20 million of union members’ money to Platinum in exchange for a $60,000 cash bribe from Huberfeld, which was delivered in a Salvatore Ferragamo bag. The union lost about $19 million of its investment.
In an unsigned decision, the three-judge appeals court panel said Seabrook’s case differed from Huberfeld’s because Seabrook went to trial twice rather than accept responsibility, was convicted of more serious crimes, and betrayed union members for his own personal gain.
“There is nothing extraordinary and compelling about different sentences being imposed on differently situated defendants,” the panel said. “Accordingly, we conclude that the district court abused its discretion by reducing Seabrook’s sentence.”
The appeals court ordered Seabrook’s case reassigned to another judge, and the 58-month sentence formally reinstated. Seabrook was convicted in August 2018.
A lawyer for Seabrook did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The office of U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton in Manhattan did not immediately respond to a similar request.
A third defendant, Jona Rechnitz, a real estate developer who pleaded guilty and testified against Seabrook, was sentenced to five months in prison but is awaiting resentencing.
Platinum’s main hedge funds went bankrupt in 2016. The correction officers union said it has 15,000 active and retired members, and is the second-largest municipal jail union in the United States.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New YorkEditing by Nick Zieminski)
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