New York Daily News
by John Marzulli
February 07, 2012

Federal prosecutors are trying to shut down several wacky escape routes ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada may try to use to weasel out of corruption charges at his trial next month.

The feds are asking Brooklyn Judge Frederic Block to preclude Espada and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, from arguing that the case against them is part of a political vendetta.

New York Post
by Mitchell Maddux
January 26, 2012

Former state Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada Jr. pleaded not guilty yesterday to the latest round of charges filed against him, and insisted he would not take a plea deal.

Espada and his son, Pedro Gautier Espada, are scheduled to stand trial in March on a wide range of corruption charges related to allegations they looted the former senator’s Bronx health clinic to pay for lavish meals, Broadway tickets and a $49,000 down payment on a Bentley.

City and State
by Andrew J. Hawkins
January 25, 2012

Ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada and his son Pedro G. Espada were arraigned in federal court today on charges they stole money from their Soundview health clinic to pay for their lavish lifestyle.

Federal prosecutors filed a superseding indictment today, adding two additional charges of creating false documents. Both Espadas pled not guilty to the charges.

Leaving the courthouse in Brooklyn this evening, Espada said he felt good about his case, and was confident that he and his son would be vindicated.

New York Daily News
by Celeste Katz
January 18, 2012

Former Bronx state senator Pedro Espada didn’t just loot a health clinic -- he lied about it too, a new indictment charges.

John Marzulli reports:

Espada allegedly submitted a document to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that falsely claimed his salary of $246,750 had been reduced to $185,063 between February 2009 and January 2010, according to papers unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

The superceding indictment also charges Espada with under-reporting the profits of a janitorial company he controlled that had a contract with the non-profit Bronx health clinic.

Espada and his son Pedro G. Espada were charged in January 2011 with using more than $500,000 from the Soundview Health Care Network for personal expenses, including tickets to Broadway shows and sporting events, dinners and a luxury car. They are also charged with tax evasion.

READ COUNTS EIGHT AND NINE OF THE INDICTMENT AFTER THE JUMP

New York Daily News
He & son face trial in March
by John Marzulli
January 18 2012

Former Bronx state senator Pedro Espada didn’t just loot a health clinic, he lied about it too, a new indictment charges.

Espada allegedly submitted a document to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that falsely claimed his salary of $246,750 had been reduced to $185,063 between February 2009 and January 2010, according to papers unsealed in Brooklyn Federal Court.

The superceding indictment also charges Espada with under-reporting the profits of a janitorial company he controlled that had a contract with the non-profit Bronx health clinic.

Albany Times Union
by Jimmy Vielkind
January 3, 2012

The folks at the Soundview Health Network provided some photos and video of their rally yesterday in downtown Mount Kisco, a stone’s throw away from Sandra Lee’s house, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo often stays.

They came to protest the imminent closure of the clinics, which were founded by Pedro Espada Jr. After a federal indictment accused Espada of pillaging thousands of dollars from the organization, the State Department of Health started working to kick it out of the Medicaid program, effectively forcing their doors shut.

New York Daily News
Two hundred protest state decision to dump Soundview Healthcare from Medicaid
by Daniel Beekman
January 3, 2012

Supporters of the Bronx health care network run by ex-state Senator Pedro Espada stormed the Westchester County hometown of Gov. Cuomo on Monday to protest the non-profit clinics being dumped from Medicaid.

Three busloads of patients, employees and Bronx residents staged a rally for Soundview Health Care Network at a park a few miles from Cuomo's suburban abode on the border of Mt. Kisco and New Castle, said Marzetta Harris, Soundview board member and longtime patient.

More than 200 people marched up Main St. in Mt. Kisco waving signs and chanting slogans such as "Save Soundview, save lives," and "People before politics," Harris said.

New York Post
Editorial
January 1, 2012

The more you scratch, it seems, the more corruption you find oozing from ex-state Sen. Pedro Espada (D-Bronx) ­ even as he awaits trial on federal ethics charges.

Just last week, the state Legislative Ethics Commission found “reasonable cause” to believe Espada broke the law by hiring his uncle to a Senate staff job in 2009 ­ and that he tried to cover up the relationship.

Jeez!

Just how much has this guy gotten away with?

The finding exposes Espada to possible further civil or criminal sanctions ­ and makes him a two-time nepotism loser: In 2009, he got his son, Pedro G. Espada, a $120,000 no-show Senate job; when then-Attorney General Andrew Cuomo began sniffing around, the younger Espada “resigned.”

Riverdale Press
by Adam Wisnieski

Bad news for embattled state Sen. Pedro Espada. And bad news for Soundview Healthcare patients as well.

On Dec. 22, a judge upheld the state’s decision to pull Medicaid funding from Mr. Espada’s Soundview Healthcare Network.

Soundview released a statement in response to Judge Mark Friedlander’s ruling.

“We respectfully disagree with the Judge’s ruling today. Government does not have a right to dictate how and where patients are seen by their medical providers, nor does it have the right to interfere with lawful employment contracts,” Monica Harris-Coleman, Soundview board chair, said in a press release.

New York Post
by Erik Kriss
December 28, 2011

ALBANY ­-- Pedro Espada Jr. may be gone from the state Senate, but he hasn’t been forgotten by the Legislature’s ethics cops.

Espada’s former legislative colleagues are accusing the disgraced ex-senator of violating the law by hiring his uncle, Juan A. Feliciano Jr., as his $80,000-a-year special assistant in the Senate from Jan. 2 to Nov. 25, 2009.