Elected in 1996 to the
New York State Senate, Sampson served in the Senate from 1997 to July 2015. He served as chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee and the Senate Administrative Regulations Review Commission, and was the first African-American to serve as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee. In 2005, Sampson made an unsuccessful bid to become
District Attorney of
Kings County, New York, opposing the incumbent,
Charles J. Hynes. On June 15, 2009, Sampson was elevated to the leadership of the Democratic Conference of the State Senate. As conference chairman, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations and the legislative agenda of the Democratic caucus. In early January of 2011, just before the 2011 legislative session convened, four Senate Democrats—led by former Democratic whip Jeff Klein—broke away from the Senate Democratic Conference to form an
Independent Democratic Conference (IDC). Klein said that he and his three colleagues—
Diane Savino,
David Carlucci and
David Valesky—could no longer support Sampson's leadership. On December 17, 2012, Sampson was ousted from his leadership post when Democrats elected
Andrea Stewart-Cousins as Senate Democratic Leader.
Criminal charges and conviction On May 6, 2013, Sampson was indicted by a
federal grand jury for
embezzlement,
obstruction of justice, and making
false statements to the
Federal Bureau of Investigation. The indictment stemmed from Sampson's alleged theft of $400,000 from the sale of foreclosed homes. He pleaded not guilty. On the day of his indictment, Sampson was stripped of his committee assignments and ranking positions and removed from the Senate Democratic Conference. Despite the indictment, Sampson won re-election in 2014. On July 24, 2015, Sampson was convicted of one count of obstruction of justice and two counts of making false statements to federal agents, which are
felonies. Upon his conviction, he was automatically expelled from the Senate. On March 10, 2016, the
Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court suspended Sampson from the practice of law. Sampson filed an appeal based on a 2016
United States Supreme Court decision that overturned the conviction of former
Virginia Governor
Bob McDonnell. On January 18, 2017, Sampson was sentenced to five years in prison. He was released on parole in August 2021. ==See also==