Vincent Leibell
Expected to appear in federal court this afternoon to plead guilty
According to a report on lohud.com, the website of The Journal News, Republican Vincent Leibell, long the most powerful politician in Putnam County and a fixture in Albany government for 28 years, will not  take office Jan. 1 as Putnam County executive, the chairman of the Putnam County Legislature said this morning.
Vincent Tamagna, the Republican chairman of the nine-member Legislature, would not say why Leibell would not take the oath in a month’s time but said he is working now on a transition government that will involve appointing an executive officer. Tamagna said he favors keeping County Executive Robert Bondi on for another year.
 News 12 reports that Leibell was expected to appear in federal court this afternoon to plead guilty to federal criminal charges, but that did not occur. The Daily News is reporting Leibell is being charged with felony bribery and money laundering in connection with the construction of his home in Patterson.
The charges against Leibell are also reportedly linked to Anthony Mangone, a politically connected Hawthorne attorney who pleaded guilty Monday in the bribery case involving former Yonkers Councilwoman Sandy Annabi.
Leibell is expected to turn himself in sometime in the next few days, but it’s unknown when he will enter his guilty plea. Sources tell News 12 that as part of his plea deal, Leibell will receive a two-year prison term.
And Leibell did not know when he ran that he was going to be charged? Forgive me if I am doubtful. It was already known that he was being investigated by the FBI during the election campaign.
Leibell could have saved the voters of this county a lot of headaches by stepping down from the race or not entering it at all. Or did he run knowing he would never serve, but did it to prevent Mary O’Dell from getting the nomination?
I never held Mr. Leibell in very high regard. This gives me even less reason to have any regard for him at all.
Atop this we are apparently going to be insulted by Legislator Tamagna and his cronies by the prospect of having David Bruno appointed for yet another year, when finally a special election will be held. Why does it take a whole year to organize a special election? It’s not rocket science.
Correction to my earlier comment. I wrote “David Bruno”, when I should have written “Bob Bondi”. Bondi is the outgoing County Exec who may stay on; Bruno was his predecessor in the post.
Leibell and everyone else continue to maintain radio silence on this unfolding scandal.
In the meantime, the voters of this county, the ones who matter a great deal more than Leibell, or Leibell’s trusty Sancho Panza, county legislator Vinnie Tamagna, are being treated as voters always are these days: feckless idiots whose only job is to make a mark on a ballot every couple of years and then go home and shut up.
I think it’s time for the folks who voted for Leibell in November to make their voices heard about this disgrace.
And it remains to be seen whether this scandal stops with Leibell or will spread to other county politicians as well.
Is it a measure of the apathy of Putnam County voters that not one other person has commented on this issue? I said in an earlier comment that Leibell had to know he was likely to be charged and I then asked, why did he run? I surmised that he did it to ensure that Mary O’Dell did not get the Republican nomination, which would have guaranteed her election.
There are now rumors circulating that Vinnie Tamagna, Leibell’s faithful Sancho Panza, is engineering things to get himself appointed as the County Exec while we prepare for yet another special election. Was this engineered in advance?
I generally have no time for conspiracy theories, but this may be a case of if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it probably is a duck. Leaving a nasty trail behind it.
Although, to my knowledge, the details of Vinny Leibell’s deal with the prosecutors are not public yet, I must say that I am surprised at how many in our town are themselves expressing surprise about this development.
The issues about Sen. Leibell’s use of his “charity” to launder money and about his hinky land deals have been common knowledge for years. Yet the citizens of Putnam County continued to vote overwhelmingly for him for many years.
As citizens, it is imperative that we all start paying attention – the corruption, I expect, runs deep in this county and it is time for it to stop.
Vinnie Leibell – more change we can’t believe in.
The quality of Putnam County politicians is equivalent to the air quality in Los Angeles.