Guy Velella

Guy J. Velella
Member of the New York State Assembly from the 80th district
In office 1973–1982
Preceded by	Ferdinand J. Mondello
Succeeded by	G. Oliver Koppell
Member of the New York Senate from the 34th district
In office 1986–2004
Preceded by	John D. Calandra
Succeeded by	Jeffrey Klein

Guy John Velella (September 25, 1944 – January 27, 2011) was a Republican New York State Senator from The Bronx.

A political leader, state assemblyman, and state senator for over 30 years, Velella was indicted in 2002 on 25 counts of bribery and conspiracy for allegedly accepting at least $137,000 in exchange for steering public-works contracts to the paying parties. He ultimately pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy in the fourth degree, a class E felony, admitting that he helped clients obtain business from government agencies, and that the clients paid fees in excess of $10,000 to his father's law firm, in exchange for a year in jail. As part of the plea agreement reached with the Manhattan District Attorney, Velella resigned his seat in the State Senate and his position as Chairman of the Bronx County Republican Party. He was also disbarred. He served a total of six months (in two separate stints) of his sentence at Rikers Island.

Velella was born on September 25, 1944, in East Harlem, then a heavily Italian-American neighborhood, in Manhattan. Velella's father, the late Vincent J. Velella, was a lawyer who became wealthy through real estate deals. The Velella family moved to the Bronx in the late 1950s. In 1967, Velella graduated from St. John's University, Jamaica, New York. He then earned a law degree from the Suffolk School of Law (today the Suffolk University Law School) in Boston, Massachusetts, and joined his father's law practice.

In 1972, aged 28, Velella, a Republican, ran for the New York State Assembly in the East Bronx. The incumbent Democrat withdrew from the race unexpectedly, and Velella won the race. He served in the Assembly from 1973 to 1982, sitting in the 180th, 181st, 182nd, 183rd and 184th New York State Legislatures. After redistricting, Velella found himself running in a new Democratic district in 1982, which then covered Throggs Neck and Parkchester. In a bitter campaign, he ran against popular Assemblyman and head of the Parkchester Tenants Association John C. Dearie. After losing that election by a wide margin, Velella told the Bronx News, a local weekly newspaper, that he was done with politics. In January 1983, Velella returned to practicing law full-time. Despite his pledge that his political career was over, Velella was elected to the local school board. Many political observers expected Velella to run for the seat in Congress held by Mario Biaggi, a Democrat, when he retired.

...
Wikipedia