‘Absolutely Not Guilty,’ Rep. Biaggi Pleads in Wedtech Arraignment

A defiant Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N. Y.) pleaded “absolutely not guilty” Friday to racketeering charges in the Wedtech Corp. corruption scandal.

Biaggi was named in a 58-count federal indictment Wednesday, charging him and six other men with a racketeering conspiracy that allegedly turned the Bronx-based defense contractor into “a vehicle for making illegal payments to public officials.”

At his arraignment before U.S. District Judge John M. Cannella, the 69-year-old Biaggi, a former highly decorated police officer, waived reading of the indictment. It charged him with extortion, accepting bribes, mail fraud, perjury and income tax evasion in addition to racketeering.

When Cannella’s clerk asked how he pleaded, Biaggi responded, “Absolutely not guilty,” stamping his cane for emphasis. Biaggi walks with a limp because of a police service-related injury.

“Now I’ve heard a fifth way to plead,” Cannella said, noting that the versions he was accustomed to hearing were guilty, not guilty, standing mute and no contest. “Now, I have a fifth one: ‘Absolutely not guilty.’ ”

“I’m sure the jury will concur with that one too, your honor,” Biaggi’s lawyer, Barry Slotnick, said.

Also named in the indictment were Biaggi’s eldest son, Richard; his former law partner, Bernard Ehrlich; former Small Business Administration official Peter Neglia; Ronald Betso, a retired city police officer and friend of Neglia; former Bronx Borough President Stanley Simon, and Wedtech founder John Mariotta.