Preet Bharara

Preet Bharara, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the level of corruption in NY state government is "distressing.'' Bharara filed charges today against nine men in connection with state-funded development projects.

(Richard Drew)

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said federal corruption charges filed today against two Syracuse executives, a former governor's aide and others are further evidence of the "show-me-the-money culture'' that defiles New York state government.

"I really do hope that there is a trial in this case, so that all New Yorkers can see, in gory detail, what their state government has been up to,'' Bharara said at a news conference today.

Bharara emphasized that he was not accusing Gov. Andrew Cuomo of any wrongdoing, despite the involvement of one of Cuomo's closest aides, Joseph Percoco.

He declined to speculate on whether Cuomo might have known about any of the wrongdoing outlined in the 80-page complaint.

"There are no allegations of any wrongdoing or misconduct by the governor anywhere in this complaint,'' Bharara said. "That's all I'm going to say."

Lobbyist Todd Howe, one of the nine men charged, pleaded guilty Wednesday and is cooperating with prosecutors. Bharara emphasized that the other eight people have not been convicted.

But any trial would be sure to expose what Bharara called the "distressing'' level of corruption in state government, he said.

The complaint unsealed today describes an alleged bribery scheme in which Percoco, the former executive deputy secretary to Cuomo, solicited more than $300,000 from two companies in return for helping them with state business.

Most of the money was paid by a downstate power plant developer, Bharara said. But the scheme also involved COR Development, which paid Percoco $35,000, authorities allege.

COR principals Steven Aiello and Joseph Gerardi face charges in connection with the scheme.

Bharara said the complaint also details a second scheme, in which COR and a Buffalo developer colluded with state officials to rig a request for proposals. COR's selection as the Syracuse winner of the RFP yielded state nanotech development contracts worth $105 million, Bharara said.