Ex-Democratic Boss Begins Serving Third Prison Term

The New York Sun reports:

A former Brooklyn Democratic Party chairman could be behind bars for three to nine more years after he began serving his final jail sentence yesterday.

Clarence Norman Jr. is now serving one to three years in a medium-security facility in Rome, N.Y., on charges that he coerced a judicial candidate into spending campaign money with political consultants of his choosing. A state Supreme Court judge in Brooklyn, Martin Marcus, ruled yesterday that Norman, 55, who was already serving two consecutive terms for other corruption charges, could begin serving his third prison term.

Norman, who served in the state Assembly for 23 years, was convicted in February of extorting money from judicial candidates in 2002, and he was the subject of a four-year political corruption investigation by the Brooklyn district attorney's office. Norman was previously convicted of stealing money from his campaign funds and accepting illegal campaign contributions.

No word yet if this narrows the corruption gap Josh Marshall has been talking about.