Former Senate Majority Leader Bruno Indicted

An Albany federal grand jury indicted Former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno on eight counts of corruption charges Friday afternoon.

Federal prosecutors alleged that Bruno carried out a scheme to defraud the New York state and its citizens of the "right to his honest services" by socliting business from people and businesses that were lobbying the State Legislature or other state agencies. Prosecutors accuse Bruno of receiving more than $3 million from five groups of individuals or related entities during a 13-year period between 1993 and 2006.

The indictment also alleges that Bruno concealed and failed to disclose these financial relationships.

Bruno pleaded not guilty to the charges and later held a press conference, posted on the News 10 Now Web site, in which he called the charges a result of a "prosecutor's slight of hand" and the investigation a "three-year fishing expedition that smells really, really bad and stinks."

Bruno said the charges stem from prosecutors' need to justify the millions of dollars they've spent investigating him for the past three years.

If convicted, Bruno faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years imprisonment and fines of up to $250,000 on each of the eight counts of the indictment under the federal wire and mail fraud statutes.