William Frank Boyland Jr. is an American convicted felon and former politician from the state of New York. A Democrat, Boyland represented District 55 (Brooklyn) in the New York State Assembly and was first elected in a 2003 special election. He forfeited his Assembly seat on March 6, 2014 due to his conviction on federal felony charges related to

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, bribery, and official corruption, and he was sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Life and career

Prior to his election to the Assembly, Boyland served as an intern in the offices of several United States Congressmen, including those of fellow Brooklynites

Edolphus Towns Edolphus "Ed" Towns Jr. (born July 21, 1934) is an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2013. A Democrat from New York, Towns was Chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee ...

and

Major Owens Major Robert Odell Owens (June 28, 1936 – October 21, 2013) was an American politician and librarian who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1983 to 2007, representing the New York's 11th and then 12th Congressional distri ...

. Boyland comes from a family of

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

politicians. His sister, Tracy L. Boyland, was the Chairwoman of the Women's Issues Committee on the New York City Council. His uncle, Thomas S. Boyland, was a member of the Assembly from 1977 to 1982, and his father, William F. Boyland Sr., occupied a seat in the New York State Assembly for two decades. Boyland's father stepped down from the Assembly in the middle of a term, and Boyland sought election to the seat his father vacated. Boyland was first elected to the Assembly in a 2003 special election. He represented Assembly District 55 in Brooklyn.

Prosecution, conviction, and imprisonment

On March 10, 2011, Boyland was among eight individuals (including State Senator Carl Kruger) who surrendered to face charges in a federal corruption case accusing the lawmakers of taking bribes over the course of a decade. On November 10, 2011, Boyland was acquitted of those charges. Before the end of the month, he was arrested again on separate federal bribery charges, with prosecutors claiming to have secretly recorded him soliciting $250,000 in bribes even while the first set of charges was still unresolved. Boyland's chief of staff, Ry-Ann Hermon, was also arrested on related charges, and eventually pleaded guilty. On March 8, 2013, Boyland was charged with three additional counts of

mail fraud Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...

for falsely securing tens of thousands of dollars in travel reimbursements. Several weeks later, another fraud charge was added for steering taxpayer money to a nonprofit agency and directing that agency to reimburse him for other expenses. On May 14, 2013, Boyland pleaded not guilty. On March 6, 2014, Boyland was convicted of all 21 felony counts he faced, including extortion, bribery, and mail fraud (Eastern District of New York, docket no. 11-CR-850). Upon conviction, Boyland immediately lost his seat in the Assembly. In September 2015, he was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison; the sentence "fell short of the minimum of 19 years sought by prosecutors but exceeded many of the prison terms imposed on other state lawmakers in a string of Albany corruption cases.". As of August 2016, he was serving his sentence at the

Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto The Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto (FCI Loretto) is a low-security United States federal prison for male inmates in Pennsylvania. An adjacent satellite prison camp houses minimum-security male offenders. It is operated by the Federal Bur ...

, a low-security federal prison in Western Pennsylvania.

References

External links

2 State Legislators Surrender in Corruption CaseNew York State Assembly Member WebsiteGotham Gazette's Eye On Albany: New York State Assembly: District 55Project Vote Smart: Interest Group Ratings
* ttp://www.nydems.org/html/electedofficials/boyland.html Biography: New York State Democratic Committee {{DEFAULTSORT:Boyland, William, Jr. Living people Baptists from New York (state) Democratic Party members of the New York State Assembly Mail and wire fraud Politicians convicted of mail and wire fraud American politicians convicted of bribery New York (state) politicians convicted of corruption New York (state) politicians convicted of crimes African-American state legislators in New York (state) 21st-century American politicians 1970 births 20th-century African-American people