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was slapped with jail time Thursday for bribing a state judge.Ex-Chairman of the Erie County Democratic Committee Steven Pigeon, who pleaded guilty in 2018 to the corrupt scheme, was sentenced to one year in jail and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
Pigeon, 61, offered former State Supreme Court Justice John Michalek help in obtaining employment and political appointments for family members.
In exchange, Michalek, 71, gave Pigeon "non-public" or privileged information about cases pending before the court, authorities said.
Michalek, who pleaded guilty in 2016, was sentenced to one year and four months in jail and a $5,000 fine.
Pigeon’s bribes included helping two of Michalek’s family members get jobs and official appointments. Pigeon also helped Michalek get appointed to an appeals court, gave him box seats for Buffalo Sabres hockey games and gave his family a free ticket to a $1,000 fundraiser, authorities said.
In exchange, Pigeon would discuss numerous pending lawsuits that the judge was handling and would give input — including telling the judge which court-appointed attorney to assign to a receivership in one case. The judge also shared confidential information about cases with Pigeon.