Emotional Farewell With Family, Constituents : Biaggi Resigns Under Corruption Cloud

Unable to hold back tears, 10-term Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.) resigned Friday under the cloud of two corruption convictions.

With family members by his side, and surrounded by hundreds of plaques of appreciation from community groups, Biaggi, a Democrat who once bragged that he was the most decorated police officer in the nation, told a crowded news conference: “I announce my resignation from the House of Representatives, effective immediately.

“Furthermore, in light of all those consuming legal battles I must continue to fight,” he added, “I am withdrawing as a candidate for reelection to an 11th term in Congress.”

Biaggi resigned his seat the day after a jury found him guilty of extorting $3.6 million in stock from the Wedtech Corp. in exchange for using his political clout to obtain military orders for the now-defunct South Bronx defense contractor. Last year, in an unrelated case, he was found guilty of obstruction of justice and accepting illegal gratuities. He was scheduled to face an expulsion hearing in the House on Sept 7.

Constituents Look In

Constituents pressed their faces against the window of Biaggi’s one-story red-brick congressional office in the Bronx as he spoke to reporters. The congressman, whose hands shook, cried during his statement, and showed a flash of anger when asked whether he had ever accepted bribes.

“Absolutely not,” he snapped, “not a single penny, gift, trip, nor a share of stock, and I’ve said this time and time again.”

He angrily rejected a prosecutor’s characterization of him during the Wedtech trial as “a thug in a congressman’s suit.”

“Name calling is easy,” he said. “You get it at every level of the gutter. I will not engage in it.”

Biaggi was found guilty Thursday of racketeering, of extorting Wedtech stock and $50,000 from the now-bankrupt company and of filing false income tax returns and bogus disclosure statements to hide his ill-gotten gains. Biaggi’s son, Richard, 39, was convicted of bribe taking, mail fraud and the illegal receipt of a gratuity, but not racketeering.

‘Many Liabilities’

“I told my son a long time ago, being my son would have many benefits and many liabilities,” Biaggi told reporters Friday. “This is one of the liabilities.”

The 70-year-old congressman, a lawyer, who served as a New York City policeman from 1942 to 1965, said his continuing legal problems would consume all of his time in the coming months.

“Today, I actually end a career in public service that has spanned almost 50 years--first as a letter carrier, then as a police officer, then as a member of Congress,” he said. “I leave with the knowledge that I always worked hard for people and tried to make a difference in their lives.”

Then, limping and leaning on a cane, he emerged from his office in the shadow of elevated train tracks on Westchester Avenue. Across the street, a storefront headquarters had been set up for the campaign for his 11th term. A banner, above pictures of Biaggi in a policeman’s uniform and in civilian clothes, proclaimed: “Lest we forget--he was always there when you needed him.”