Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for fraud and extortion, according to NY State of Politics. He will also need to pay $5.1 million in forfeiture funds and an additional $1.75 million fine. Although the maximum sentence for his crimes was 27 years, the judge said such a lengthy incarceration would be draconian and unjust considering Silver's advanced age and recent prostate cancer diagnosis. 

Once one of the most powerful politicians in Albany, Silver was later found to have taken over $4 million in bribes and kickbacks in exchange for political factors. He then disguised these bribes as legal payments. Silver will be replaced in the legislature by Alice Cancel, an assemblywoman who won a special election last month. She was sworn in at the same time Silver was sentenced.