Former New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver has died at the age of 77, Reuters reported on Monday.
Silver, who was convicted on corruption charges that resulted in a prison sentence of six and a half years, died at a federal prison medical facility while serving out his sentence in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, his former chief of staff Judy Rapfogel told the media.
Silver began serving his sentence in August 2020 despite being in poor health. He appealed the portions of his 2018 conviction that were upheld in January 2020 by the Manhattan-based 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals.
In January last year, the US Supreme Court declined to hear an appeal by Silver of his conviction on the corruption charges.
In May of last year, Silver was released early from prison and was to have serve the remainder of his term under home confinement. However, just two days later, authorities overruled the decision and ordered him back to prison.
Silver, a Democrat, was accused of accepting close to $4 million in illegal payments in exchange for taking official actions in two separate schemes.
He represented Manhattan's Lower East Side, and served as Assembly speaker from 1994 to 2015. In January of last year, it was reported that former President Donald Trump had considered granting clemency to Silver.