Jurors hearing the case against Dean Skelos heard testimony last week about the former state Senate majority leader's temper and his threats against campaign contributors. Today, it was his son, Adam, whose aggressive side was on display. Bobby Cuza filed the following report.
Prosecutors say Dean Skelos strong-armed companies with business before the state into giving work to his son Adam. But Adam wasn't afraid to boast of his own influence.
In a secretly recorded phone call played in court Monday with the head of an association of Greek diner owners who'd apparently been unresponsive to a sales pitch, Adam is hostile and demeaning.
Of his cellphone number, he says, "It’s a privilege to have that number. Now, if you want to utilize my [expletive] reach and business opportunity, then you call me and I’ll set up a meeting."
Adam also seems to suggest he can perform political favors, but when asked what, he says he won't say on the phone.
According to prosecutors, after persistent pressure from then-senate Majority Leader Skelos, executives at Glenwood Management, a powerful real estate developer, arranged for a title insurance company to pay Adam $20,000.
The head of that company, Tom Dwyer, a former town councilman on Long Island, testified Monday that Adam performed no work for that $20,000. And Dwyer, apparently uncomfortable with the arrangement, said he was so nervous he lied about it when questioned by investigators.
In a separate arrangement, Glenwood hooked Adam up with work at AbTech, an Arizona-based company that made a stormwater filtration product.
AbTech's founder, Glenn Rink, testified that he arranged to pay Adam $4,000 a month to help the company win government contracts, only to be pressured by Glenwood to increase Adam's pay so as not to anger the Skeloses.
In an unusual episode in the courtroom Monday, a spectator who identified himself as a friend of Dean Skelos was called up before the judge and sharply scolded for shaking and nodding his head during testimony, something the judge was concerned might be a signal to a witness. The man left and did not return.