Drunk political schemer thought Smith bribe was payment for legal consultation

[Disir]

A Queens Republican operative, accused of pocketing $25,000 as part of a failed scheme to help state Sen. Malcolm Smith rig last year’s mayoral race, was so boozed up when he took the cash that he thought he was being paid for legal consulting services, a lawyer claimed Thursday.

Leo Ahern, a lawyer for ex-Queens GOP Vice Chairman Vincent Tabone, accused the government of entrapment. He told a federal jury his client had one too many vodka tonics with a politically connected group at Sparks Steak House in Midtown on Valentine’s Day 2013. It was then, Ahern claimed, that an undercover FBI agent and a wire-wearing, crooked developer-turned-informant walked Tabone outside to a parked Audi and paid him the cash.

...Both Smith and Halloran face up to 45 years behind bars, while Tabone faces 25 years in the slammer.

Anyone wanna place bets on how much time anyone does?