Will Andrew Cuomo use his net worth to escape possible jail time?

It seems that Andrew Cuomo has gone from one of the most well-loved politicians in the Democratic party to one of the most looked down upon in his respective political party overnight. Upon the release of a lengthy report that concluded the New York governor was indeed guilty for the sexual assault accusations he’s faced, Cuomo is now in rough waters. How will this affect Andrew Cuomo and his net worth? Find out the details here. 

Exposed for his wrongdoings

On Tuesday, State Attorney General Letitia James announced that results of the investigation against Andrew Cuomo proved that the sexual assault allegations made against him were indeed true. James also released a lengthy 168-page report that detailed the history of each claim with pages and pages of evidence to back each one up. It may be possible that Andrew Cuomo faces jail time, but will his net worth save him? 

While New York State Attorney General Letitia James did not report any criminal charges in the report that she released on Tuesday, Andrew Cuomo can still face the possibility of being pressed with criminal charges, but like many rich folks, his hefty net worth can likely get him out of that one. So what exactly were the horrifying actions that the New York governor was found guilty of, and just how many people were his victims? 

In the 168-page report detailing each accusation made against Andrew Cuomo, the documents revealed that the New York Governor has had a long history of making inappropriate comments that came off as inappropriately sexual during professional settings, planting unwanted kisses, and even groping other women who were employees of the state. It also already seems like one criminal probe is currently in the works also. 

Criminal charges? 

While not everything that Andrew Cuomo was found guilty of in the investigation can lead to criminal charges against the politician, there are still some accusations that are at a level of possible criminal behavior and may require him to give up some of his net worth to get him out of the situation. According to The City, lawyer Karen Adnifilo at Geragos & Geragos explained that two specific instances may be the cause of this. 

Per The City, Karen Agnifilo “said her reading of the James’ report indicates that in the case of two of the 11 women whose experiences were documented and mostly corroborated, a prosecutor could bring misdemeanor charges of forcible touching or third-degree sexual abuse or both”. Being found guilty of forcible touching can lead to a potential sentence for up to a year, while third-degree sexual abuse is three months. 

“It certainly looks to me reading the allegations that, if the two-year statute of limitations is in effect, I could see two to three misdemeanors that could be brought here at least”, the lawyer explained to The City. So just why did Attorney General Letitia James not choose to press charges against the New York Governor as she released the lengthy report detailing each and every accusation made against him on Tuesday? 

Manhattan’s assistant district attorney and veteran criminal defense attorney Robert Gottlieb find such an action “disturbing”, according to The City, explaining: “That statement is meaningless unless she refers the report specifically to either a state or federal prosecutor”. 

“It may even be appropriate to have a prosecutor now convene a grand jury or file a criminal complaint, but it’s got to be based on evidence — not on an attorney general simply throwing out a report and saying it’s somebody else’s job to prosecute”. James specified on Tuesday that Andrew Cuomo had “broken multiple state and federal laws” and that he had “sexually harassed multiple women and, in doing so, broke the law”.