Former Suffolk County Conservative Party Leader Edward Walsh faces new federal accusations that he cheated the county out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Prosecutors also say he tried to influence the testimonies of three potential witnesses at his corruption trial last year.
Walsh was convicted last April of wire fraud and theft of government services. He was accused of pocketing $200,000 when he was supposed to be working at a county jail but instead was golfing, gambling and partaking in political activities.
Walsh has not been charged with any crime under the new accusations, but a judge is allowed to consider them when deciding on a sentence.
His defense team is pushing to delay the sentencing which was originally scheduled for Friday.
Walsh’s lawyers want a pre-sentence hearing because they believe that these new accusations have caused federal prosecutors to unfairly try to enhance Walsh’s sentence.