Albany

Amid Albany's seemingly unending string of corruption cases, it was a new wrinkle: an alleged father-and-son conspiracy.

State Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos and his son Adam, 32, surrendered to authorities Monday morning in response to a federal complaint that alleged they conspired in a years-long effort to trade legislative favors for personal and political benefits.

In a news conference hours later, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara described the scheme as an effort to "monetize" Dean Skelos' considerable power and influence as the chamber's GOP leader, a post he has held for almost seven years.

Monday evening, Skelos met behind closed doors for more than three hours with his conference. Just before midnight, his fellow Long Islander Ken LaValle, serving as the group's spokesman, emerged to say that Skelos would remain in power.

"The leader has indicated he would like to remain as leader, and he has the support of the conference," LaValle said.

The 43-page federal complaint charged the men with extortion, accepting bribes and honest services fraud, and alleged they bent government processes — from contracting on Long Island to the state budget in Albany — to their private purposes.

The complaint alleges that Dean Skelos doled out legislative favors and influence in an effort to benefit the environmental technology company AbTech, which secured a $12 million contract for a stormwater-remediation system in Nassau County, and Glenwood Management, a powerful real estate development company that has financial and personnel ties to AbTech. In return, Adam Skelos received payments of more than $200,000 while Dean Skelos and his conference received considerable political donations from Glenwood, whose owner, Leonard Litwin, is the state's most generous political contributor.

In an afternoon appearance at U.S. District Court in Manhattan, the Skeloses pleaded not guilty and were released without bail. "I am not saying I am just not guilty, I am saying that I am innocent," Dean Skelos said in a statement.

Senate Democratic Conference Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins called the charges "deeply disturbing" and said Skelos should resign as leader.

"There are many pressing issues that must be addressed during the remainder of the legislative session, and the Senate Republican majority must ensure that this body is not bogged down in scandal," Stewart-Cousins said, noting that Sen. Tom Libous, the GOP conference's deputy leader, is also under federal indictment for allegedly lying to investigators about his efforts to boost his son's career.

Replacing Skelos could be a ticklish business: The GOP holds a bare 32-member majority, augmented by Sen. Simcha Felder, a Democrat who conferences with the Republicans. Libous, who is battling terminal cancer and is recuperating from an infection that developed after back surgery, is not expected back at the Capitol for several weeks.

As members of Skelos' conference trickled into the Capitol on Monday, it seemed that his support was eroding.

"I don't see how it is possible that he can remain as leader," said Rotterdam Republican George Amedore, who cautioned that he still wanted to hear what Skelos had to say to his members.

Much of the complaint relies on wiretap evidence as well as material provided by cooperating witnesses.

A principal source, referred to in the complaint as "CW-1," is Charles Dorego, a senior vice president at Glenwood, which has made investments in AbTech's parent company. According to the complaint, Dorego began cooperating with the investigation only last month. Dorego's attorney declined comment Monday morning.

Glenwood, identified in the complaint as "Developer-1," is one of many real estate concerns with extensive business before the state in the final weeks of the legislative session, especially renewals of 421-a tax abatements for developers and rent regulation in New York City.

The complaint paints Adam Skelos as a young man wholly dependent on his father's connections to drum up business, whether seeking clients for title insurance work or his effort to secure AbTech's contract in Nassau County, Dean Skelos' power base. Adam Skelos allegedly relied on his father's Senate campaign records to identify potential clients, the complaint states.

The complaint alleges that Dean Skelos worked assiduously to reward his son's benefactors, to the extent of having his staff rewrite the script of the official GOP response — delivered by Rich Funke — to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's State of the State address to mention the importance of infrastructure projects including "roads and bridges, sewer and water systems."

The wiretap material comes from phones connected to Skelos and his son, including one that Adam Skelos referred to as a "safe phone" that he obtained following the January arrest of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, an incident that placed a chill on relations among many of the figures whose actions are described in the complaint.

The complaint includes excerpts from a March 28 phone call in which Adam Skelos complained that his father couldn't give him "real advice" on the AbTech deal because "you can't talk normal because it's like ****ing Preet Bharara is listening to every ****ing phone call. It's just ****ing frustrating."

"It is," Dean Skelos replied.

Silver was ousted from his leadership post 10 days after his arrest, though he remains in the chamber. Like Skelos, he has declared his innocence.

Skelos is the fourth Senate majority leader to face federal indictment in the past decade, though he is the first sitting leader to do so: His predecessor Joseph L. Bruno, a Republican, was ultimately acquitted after two trials; former Sen. Malcolm Smith, a Democrat, was convicted earlier this year for trying to bribe his way to the Republican nomination for New York City mayor in 2013; another Democrat, Pedro Espada Jr., was convicted of raiding a health care nonprofit he ran.

Since the beginning of 2010, federal prosecutors have convicted or charged a dozen New York state lawmakers with public corruption.

Matthew Hamilton contributed. • cseiler@timesunion.com • 454-5619 • @CaseySeiler