News story from 2005 reminds us that the bill that increased time level 1s were forced to register was penned by corrupt criminal politician Dean Skelos

Don't ever forget that Laura Ahearn's biggest allies over the years later fell from grace for corruption, like Dean Skelos did.

http://liherald.com/stories/Reforming-Megans-LawHearing-held-to-determine-how-landmark-legislation-can-be-strengthened,10348

Reforming Megan's LawHearing held to determine how landmark legislation can be strengthened
Posted June 2, 2005
By Nicole Falco

Ten years old, when Russillo became his neighbor, the boy and his family never could have known that Russillo had been convicted on sexual abuse charges in 1980, because Megan's Law, which requires convicted sex offenders to register with law enforcement, didn't exist. So they never could have known that Russillo was "grooming" the boy to be his next victim.
      In 2003, Russillo was convicted on two counts of second-degree sexual abuse and one count of endangering the welfare of a child. After a four-week trial, during which the boy testified for two days, Russillo was not found guilty of the more serious charges he faced, including sodomy, that would have carried a harsher sentence. On Tuesday, Russillo was released from jail and expected to return to his Suffolk County home, just two doors down from the boy he molested.
      "I don't understand why [he] has so many rights, and kids like me don't," the boy said at a hearing last Thursday at Valley Stream North High School to solicit the community's input on possible ways to bolster Megan's Law. "I don't wish what happened to me to happen to any other kid. ... Try hard to get these laws passed."
      Coming up on the 10-year anniversary of Megan's Law - named for 7-year-old Megan Kanka, a New Jersey girl who was sexually assaulted and murdered by her neighbor in July 1994 - the state Senate Committee on Crime Victims, Crime and Correction is holding a series of public hearings to gather information, and a bill to strengthen the current law is expected to be introduced in the Senate this month. Sen. Dean G. Skelos (R-Rockville Centre), the author of the current law, and Sen. Michael Nozzolio (R-Fayette), the committee chairman, presided over the most recent hearings in Valley Stream. The first hearings were held in Albany earlier this month, and a third session will take place in Brooklyn.
      "This is, in my opinion, the most critical reform that we can pass," Skelos said. "The passing of a law to protect you, protect our community - that's the principal responsibility of government."
      The Megan's Law Reform Act of 2005 will encompass a variety of issues, including lifetime registration of all convicted sex offenders (low- and mid-level offenders currently register for 10 years), mandatory community notification, civil confinement of sexually violent predators, global-positioning-system tracking and the posting of information for all three levels of registered sex offenders on the Department of Criminal Justice Services Web site.
      "Even if [Russillo] had been registered 20 years prior, he would have only been registered for 10 years," the boy's mother testified. "A day doesn't go by that I don't think to myself, How could I let this happen? Why didn't I see it?"
      Of the 21,000 registered sex offenders in New York state, more than 400 live in Nassau County, and nearly 800 in Suffolk County. By year's end, 3,300 statewide will no longer be included on the registry, having fulfilled their 10-year obligation. Russillo is not automatically a high- or third-level offender. He is entitled to a hearing under the current law.
      The boy and his mother were two of the 10 people who testified before the committee, which was joined by other local politicians. A second victim testified, as did Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law; Dr. Marc Bernstein, Valley Stream high school superintendent; Cynthia Scott, executive director of the Coalition on Child Abuse and Neglect; and various law enforcement officials.
      The second victim, a young woman, said she was just 15 when she and three others were sexually abused by a youth counselor at her church. Matthew Maiello, now 31, who worked at East Meadow's St. Raphael Roman Catholic Church, pleaded guilty to third-degree rape and three counts of second-degree sodomy. He spent two years in jail, and is now living in upstate New York after being released in March.
      "It's ridiculous how a person who sexually abuses children can earn good time in jail," the young woman said. "I think it's the job of [lawmakers] to put forth these laws to be proactive instead of reactive."
      Ahearn called Megan's Law an effective tool, and hopes that it can be strengthened to include lifetime registration and stricter probation, and to require sex offenders who plead to the lesser charge of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor, to register. She also called for the statute of limitations to be abolished.
      "A society can be measured by how well we protect our children," Ahearn said. "Protecting even one child is all it takes to ensure that a law is effective."
      Kenneth Rau, chief of detectives in Suffolk County, raised many of the same points as Ahearn. "It's very difficult to sit down with a parent and say what happened to your child is not important enough," he said of those instances where offenders are convicted of lesser crimes or serve minimal time.
      Bernstein called for a uniform system of notification for school districts, and added that sex offenders shouldn't be allowed to live within 1,000 feet of schools and other places where kids congregate.
      Scott and Nassau County Police Department Lt. John Allen called for educational programs in schools and communities. John Fowle, supervisor of the Special Victims Unit of the Nassau County Department of Probation, suggested lifetime parole and requiring offenders to register with the Department of Motor Vehicles. And Joy Watson, Sex Offense and Domestic Violence Bureau chief for the Nassau County district attorney's office, asked that youthful offenders not be exempt from the law.
      After hearing all of the testimony, Skelos said, "Obviously, changing some of the penal sections, like endangering the welfare of a child, came up repeatedly. Also, the theme of education - giving parents and kids the tools to protect themselves - that came out really clear."

PFML's list of contributors proudly includes at least $50k from convicted criminal Dean Skelos

If I was Laura Ahearn, I'd send that fifty grand or so back to convicted criminal Dean Skelos. It is equally interesting the biggest contributors are politicians; in fact, only three of the 15 listed donors of $25k+ are businesses.

(Editor's note: It seems PFML removed the contributor's list but not before I screenshot it. Nice try, Laura!)

https://www.parentsformeganslaw.org/public/sponsors.html

You can see the full list on the Web Archive:
https://web.archive.org/web/20160412215206/http://www.parentsformeganslaw.org/public/sponsors.html

Sponsors And Special Thanks

LEADERS  - Donations and Grants

$50,000 +
United States Senator Charles E. Schumer
United States Congressman Timothy H. Bishop 
United States Congressman Steve J. Israel 
United States Congressman Peter King   

New York State Senator Dean G. Skelos    
New York State Senator John J. Flanagan
New York State Senator Lee M. Zeldin
CA Technologies
Gary Melius, Oheka Castle  
District Attorney Thomas J. Spota 
Suffolk County Sheriff Vincent F. De Marco

INVESTORS - Donations and Grants

$25,000 - $49,000
New York Senator Charles Fushillo  
New York State Senator Kemp Hannon  
New York State Senator Kenneth P. LaValle 
Walmart  

BENEFACTORS - Donations and Grants

$5,000 – $25,000 
BBD - Business By Design - Web and Print Design 
Caffe Amici  

Vehicle Tracking Solutions - John Cunningham 
www.vehicletracking.com  'We Help You Drive Productivity' 

CONTRIBUTOR - Donations and Grants

$1,500 – $5,000 
Alpha Group
Andrew L. Weitz & Associates, P.C.
Baiting Hollow Country Club
Best Buy
Borgata Hotel & Spa - Atlantic City
Coram Fire Department
Kozy Shack
Giove Funeral Home 
Lindy’s Transportation  
Park Strategies, Senator Alfonse D’Amato  
Poker Player's Alliance
Selden Florist  
Sivan Properties
Specialties Galore - Holbrook, NY
Starbucks
Suffolk County Police Benevolent Association   
Villa Lombardi’s 
West Lake Inn, Patchogue, NY
Whole Foods Market
Michael C. Williams, C.P.A., P.C.  
Thomas Yllanes  

SUPPORTERS

$500 - $1,500 
Association of Municipal Employees - Suffolk County, NY 
Atlantis Marine World 
Cablevision
Coca Cola   
Cooperage Inn - Baiting Hollow, NY
Danford's Restaurant and Catering - Port Jefferson, NY 
Dick's Sporting Goods 
Disc Graphics, Hauppauge, NY   
Electric Printing, Bohemia, NY   
Entenmann’s 
Empire State Carpenters Local Union 7   
Entenmann’s 
Estey & Bomberger, LLP
Fairy Tale Productions - Nesconset, NY
Fat Cat Graphics, Center Moriches, NY   
Fink's Country Farm - Riverhead, NY
Harrah's Hotel and Casino - Atlantic City
HealthPlex
Helzberg Diamonds - Lake Grove, NY
Home Depot
Ideal Image - Hauppauge, NY 
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 25   
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 138, 138A, 138B and 138C 
J & B Restaurant Partners - Ronkonkoma, NY
Kerri's Kandies - Coram, NY
Lowe's Home Improvements  - Stony Brook, NY
McDonald's - TriMac, Hauppauge, NY
Nassau County Detectives Association 
New York Jets
New York Giants
New York Islanders
New York Mets
New York State Association of Chiefs of Police
New York State Fraternal Order of Police  
News 12 Long Island
North Shore Therapeutic Spa and Wellness Center - East Setauket, NY
Pace's Steak House - Port Jefferson, NY
Pepsico   
Peter Kramer 
Plumbers Local Union 200     
Rainbow Media Holdings
Rita's Italian Ices - Medford, NY
R&J Graphics, Farmingdale, NY   
Ralph's Italian Ices   
Rock Doves Music
Ruvo Restaurant - Port Jefferson, NY
Sand Castle Photography
St. Gerard Printing - Port Jefferson Stattion, NY
Southwest Airlines - Cheryl Swanson
Sports Illustrated
Suffolk County Democratic Committee   
Suffolk County Police Athletic League   
Sunstar
Tumbling Dice
USPA Nationwide Security, Michael Evans
WBAB and WBLI Radio
While You Wait Copy Center, Centereach, NY

FRIENDS

Fredrick P. Beinlein, CSCS, Certified Personal Trainer
Costco - Holbrook, NY
Mohegan Sun - CT
Swan Lake Golf Club - Shirley, NY
Suffolk County Deputy Sheriff's PBA
Touch of Class Car Wash & Detail Center - St. James, NY

SPECIAL THANKS TO

Our Dedicated Volunteers Who Give Their Gift Of Time 

(Full page screen shot because they think they could delete it). 

Dean Skelos, the legislator responsible for doubling registration time for NY's level 1 registrants, gets 5 Years in Prison for Corruption

This is the guy who first championed the doubling of the registration of Level 1 registrants in NY state from 10 years to 20 years. He's not alone in the corruption scandal.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/13/nyregion/dean-skelos-is-sentenced-to-5-years-in-prison-in-corruption-case.html

Dean Skelos Is Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison in Corruption Case
By BENJAMIN WEISER and VIVIAN YEEMAY 12, 2016

Dean G. Skelos, the once powerful Republican majority leader of the New York State Senate who was convicted with his son in December on federal corruption charges, was sentenced on Thursday to five years in prison.

The sentencing of Mr. Skelos was the second instance in 10 days in which a former senior New York lawmaker was sent to prison for abusing his office. It concluded an extraordinary chapter during which two trials, held a block apart at almost the same time last year, exposed a culture of kickbacks, secret deals and nepotism in the State Capitol in Albany.

But while the crimes and the 12-year prison term of Sheldon Silver, the former Democratic speaker of the State Assembly, exceeded those of Mr. Skelos and his son, Adam B. Skelos, the Skeloses’ trial stood out for the gritty, unvarnished look it offered of the personal and political dealings of a family immersed in Albany’s back channels.

The evidence against the Skeloses, who were convicted of bribery, extortion and conspiracy, laid bare schemes that were remarkable for both their brazenness and their familial motivation: The father seemed willing to do anything for his son.

Before he was sentenced, Dean Skelos asked the judge in the case, Kimba M. Wood of Federal District Court in Manhattan, to show mercy to his son. “Somehow I let things go off the rails, and for that I apologize to Adam,” Mr. Skelos said. “I love Adam and pray that we have better days together.” Adam Skelos was sentenced to six and a half years in prison.

The former senator also expressed remorse for his actions. “Somewhere along the way,” he said, “my judgment became clouded.”

The sentencings of Mr. Skelos and Mr. Silver made them the latest in an almost unending parade of disgraced New York lawmakers — elected officials tempted by greed and brought down by prosecutors, most notably Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan.

Mr. Bharara, whose office is one of several agencies investigating possible wrongdoing connected to the administrations of Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo, released a statement on Thursday that took a barely veiled swipe at Mr. Cuomo’s decision in 2014 to disband an anticorruption panel, the Moreland Commission, less than a year after he impaneled it.

The cases involving Mr. Skelos and Mr. Silver, Mr. Bharara said, “show — and history teaches — that the most effective corruption investigations are those that are truly independent and not in danger of either interference or premature shutdown.” He added that while the men deserved their sentences, “the people of New York deserve better.”

Before sentencing the Skeloses, Judge Wood scolded the former senator for violating his “unique position of power and trust.”

The judge seemed to acknowledge the spate of graft scandals, saying she wanted “other politicians to learn from this sentence that public corruption will be punished.” The prison term, however, was less than half of what prosecutors had asked for.

Judge Wood also imposed a $500,000 fine — the amount sought by the government — on the former senator, as well as a $334,120 forfeiture to be paid jointly by him and his son. Prosecutors had noted that Dean Skelos had built a net worth of more than $2 million during his nearly three decades in the Senate, and had also applied for a state pension of almost $96,000 a year.

While the judge cited some of Dean Skelos’s accomplishments and service to his constituents, it was clear that she found few redemptive qualities in his son. She seemed appalled by wiretapped conversations that she said exposed his “bullying,” “cynicism” and “extreme” physical threats — tactics, she said, “more usually associated with professional criminals.”

“You appeared to have no moral compass,” Judge Wood told Adam Skelos, 33. “I think you did everything you could to monetize your father’s position for your personal benefit.”

At trial, prosecutors presented evidence that the elder Mr. Skelos, 68, used his position as majority leader to pressure a real estate developer, an environmental technology company and a medical malpractice insurer — firms that depended on his support as senator for legislation that benefited their interests — to provide Adam Skelos with consulting work, a direct payment of $20,000 and a job that required him to do virtually no work.

Lawyers for the Skeloses had asked Judge Wood to spare them from prison and sentence them to probation and community service. But on Thursday, G. Robert Gage Jr., one of the former senator’s lawyers, suggested instead that his client receive a short prison sentence.

Mr. Gage suggested that the underlying theme of the case was “this father-son emotional relationship.”

“To his great credit as a person as well as a parent, Dean always stuck by Adam,” Mr. Gage said, “perhaps to a fault.”

Indeed, during the trial, witnesses told the jury that Adam Skelos essentially held a no-show job. On the rare occasions when he did go to work, his behavior was troublesome. When a supervisor confronted him, Mr. Skelos threatened to “smash” his head, and said that men like him “couldn’t shine” Mr. Skelos’s shoes.

Secretly recorded conversations played for the jury exposed other unsavory aspects of Adam Skelos’s behavior. He could be heard on one recording speaking about how he concealed an extramarital affair from his wife. He said he planned to get a puppy for his wife because “she’ll find it easier to say O.K.” on the occasions when he stayed in a hotel after work, rather than returning home.

“The things I do to stay out,” Adam Skelos could be heard saying. He also said that he used the FaceTime app to talk with his mistress because “FaceTime doesn’t show up on a phone bill.”

In court on Thursday, Christopher P. Conniff, a lawyer for Adam Skelos, cited his client’s alcohol and drug dependency and noted that his wife, with whom he has two young sons with autism, had left him.

“The devastation that has been caused in part by his immaturity and at times arrogance,” Mr. Conniff said, “is probably going to be a greater harm to him than frankly any sentence.”

Adam Skelos was impassive until he rose to address the court. Then, his voice breaking at times, he did what his father had done minutes before: ask for leniency, but not for himself.

“It was hard for me to sit through this case and come face to face with the person I was a few years ago,” Adam Skelos said, adding, “I’ve had my struggles in life, but now realize that I can’t use them as an excuse for my conduct.”

He closed, in part, by asking Judge Wood to “show leniency to my dad and not to me.”

When Adam Skelos returned to his seat, his father threw an arm around him and squeezed him; he kissed his father on the cheek.

Both men left the courthouse without comment.

Mr. Bharara’s office had sought much stiffer sentences, suggesting that an appropriate prison term for Dean Skelos would be about 12 to 15 years, and for Adam Skelos, about 10 to 12 years.

“You can’t argue that you rob a bank repeatedly over the course of years and you did it for your family,” a prosecutor, Jason A. Masimore, said on Thursday, adding that the evidence demonstrated that “Dean Skelos was strong-arming these victims and forcing them to pay.”

Dean Skelos, who stepped down from his leadership position after his arrest last May, automatically lost his seat in the Legislature upon being convicted.

Mr. Cuomo, in a brief statement, said the sentences “show there is zero tolerance for those who use public service for private gain.”

Judge Wood did not set a date for the two men to surrender to prison authorities, saying she would rule first on their lawyers’ request that they be allowed to remain free pending their appeals.

New York Lawmakers and Their Sentences
A list of the longest prison terms given to convicted former state officeholders in New York in recent years.

Defendant Sentence Year

William F. Boyland Jr., Assemblyman 168 months 2015
Sheldon Silver, Assembly speaker 144 months 2016
Daniel J. Halloran III, N.Y. City Councilman 120 months 2015
Brian M. McLaughlin, State Assemblyman 120 months* 2009
Carl Kruger, State Senator 84 months 2012
Malcolm A. Smith, State Senator 84 months 2015
Efraín González Jr., State Senator 84 months 2010
Anthony S. Seminerio, State Assemblyman 72 months 2010
Dean G. Skelos, State Senate majority leader 60 months 2016
Miguel Martinez, N.Y. City Councilman 60 months 2009
Pedro Espada Jr., State Senator 60 months 2013

Larry B. Seabrook, N.Y. City Councilman 60 months 2013

Here is Laura Ahole giving an award to her fellow criminal Dean Skelos.