Eugene Rodriguez (born June 4, 1929) is an American former lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Life

He was born on June 4, 1929, in

East Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem or and historically known as Italian Harlem, is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, New York City, roughly encompassing the area north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, F ...

, New York City. He attended

Straubenmuller Textile High School The Bayard Rustin Educational Complex – also known as the Humanities Educational Complex – at West 18th Street between Eighth and Ninth Avenues in the Chelsea neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, is a "vertical campus" of the N ...

. He graduated from

Long Island University Long Island University (LIU) is a private university with two main campuses, LIU Post and LIU Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. It offers more than 500 academic programs at its main campuses, online, and at multiple non-residential. LIU ...

and Brooklyn Law School. During the Korean War he served in the U.S. Army. He was admitted to the bar in 1955, and practiced law in New York City. He was a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Assem ...

(Bronx Co., 4th D.) in

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

. In September 1965, after re-apportionment, he ran in the 87th District for re-nomination, but was defeated in the Democratic primary by Salvatore R. Almeida. In 1966, Rodriguez approached ex-convict Louis Fess Taylor to help him quash a narcotics indictment. Rodriguez asked for $100,000 and promised to fix the case. Taylor talked to the D.A.'s office about the offer, and at the next meetings carried a recording device. On July 27, Rodriguez was indicted for attempted extortion. On November 8, Rodriguez was elected to the

New York State Senate The New York State Senate is the upper house of the New York State Legislature; the New York State Assembly is its lower house. Its members are elected to two-year terms; there are no term limits. There are 63 seats in the Senate. Partisan com ...

(29th D.), but he did not take his seat in the

177th New York State Legislature The 177th New York State Legislature, consisting of the New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly, met from January 4, 1967, to May 25, 1968, during the ninth and tenth years of Nelson Rockefeller's governorship, in Albany. Backgro ...

. His trial opened on December 12. He asked his chauffeur Antonio Maldonado and one José Sierra to kill Taylor to prevent him from testifying at the trial. On January 13, 1967, Rodriguez was convicted of perjury and attempted grand larceny. On February 14, he was sentenced to one and a half to four years in jail, and thus vacated his Senate seat. On February 27, he pleaded guilty to have conspired to murder Taylor. On March 2, he was sentenced to one and a half to four years in jail for conspiracy to commit murder, to be served concurrently with the sentence for perjury. On April 4, 1967, he was disbarred by the Appellate Division. He was released from Clinton Correctional Facility on December 24, 1969. On August 23, 1973, Rodriguez was arrested at his home in the East Village, Manhattan for illegal gambling.''Ex-State Senator Held As Gambling Ring Chief ''
in ''The New York Times'' on August 24, 1973 (subscription required)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rodriguez, Eugene 1929 births Living people Democratic Party New York (state) state senators Hispanic and Latino American state legislators in New York (state) Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Long Island University alumni Brooklyn Law School alumni Disbarred New York (state) lawyers People from the East Village, Manhattan People from East Harlem Politicians from the Bronx