Espada's Latest Kerfuffle Should End Badly For Him

New York State Senator Pedro Espada Jr (D) is a law unto himself. He's representing a district in the Bronx, but it appears that he doesn't live there. Now, it looks like he's broken state and federal campaign finance laws as well. He's been sending out mailings using postal metering meant for nonprofits and hasn't bothered to file campaign finance returns properly.

CBS 2 HD has learned exclusively that Espada may have violated federal and state campaign finance laws.

CBS 2 HD has been on his trail for months.

It's a question we first asked Sen. Espada months ago.

Marcia Kramer: "I'm asking you why you don't file campaign finance records?"

Espada finally did file some of those reports last Friday, but a review by CBS 2 HD found an apparent failure to report significant amounts of spending, like for five glossy campaign mailings. Experts said mailings like this could cost as much as $20,000 apiece.

"It's hard to believe this information is not disclosed. He's a candidate for the office. He's been a senator before. There's really no excuse for the campaign filing info not to be there," said Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.

But a bigger problem for Espada may be the fact that the bulk postage stamps for two campaign brochures is the same as the one used to send out brochures for his Soundview health clinics. All of them say permit number 1235, Brooklyn, N.Y.

The health clinic's bulk stamps cost less than the standard rates used on political mailings, which means he was getting subsidized mailings. That's a big no no.

It also means that he was shorting not only taxpayers but the US Postal Service by thousands of dollars.

Recall that Espada and another despicable Democrat, Hiram Monserrate threw their support to the GOP allowing the GOP to retake the majority in the State Senate. They did so because of a spat with fellow Democrats, and then Senate Majority Leader Malcolm Smith.

Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is looking into whether Espada illegally used the health clinics improperly to subsidize his political career.

The kicker? The health care clinic owes hundreds of thousands in back taxes.

A Bronx health care business operated by Sen. Pedro Espada Jr., which receives millions of dollars annually in state support, owes $347,000 in back taxes.

Yet, Espada's organization was able to afford a $460,000 annual salary for the entrepreneurial Democrat as recently as 2007, according to state and federal tax records and interviews.

In fact Espada, the colorful outspoken renegade senator, whose alliance with Senate Republicans and disputed election as Senate president has caused chaos in New York's government, has a history of tax delinquency.