Former Assembly Speaker Silver sentenced to seven years in prison

Former New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, once Albany's most powerful Democrat, has been sentenced to 7 years in prison for corruption.

In May, a jury in Manhattan convicted Silver of public corruption charges, dashing the 74-year-old's second attempt to avoid prison after a decades-long career in state government.

His first trial in 2015 resulted in a 12-year sentence. An appeals court later tossed out that conviction, citing a recent Supreme Court ruling that changed the legal boundaries for public corruption.

Prosecutors said Silver illegally earned $4 million from a cancer researcher and real estate developers who benefited from his clout in state government.

Defense lawyers countered that his fees were "perfectly legal."