New York politician Sheldon Silver has passed away aged 77, leaving people curious to know more about his family life and wife, Rosa Silver.
Former New York State Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver died at Nashoba Valley Medical Center in Ayer, Massachusetts, on Monday, January 24 2022. The cause of death has yet to be revealed. He was serving a six-and-a-half-year sentence at Devens Federal Medical Center, CBS reports.
Reuters reports the Democrat began his sentence in August 2020 after being found guilty of “accepting close to $4 million in illegal payments in exchange for taking official actions in two separate schemes”.
Prosecutors also claimed Silver arranged for state grants to go to a cancer researcher who referred mesothelioma patients to his law firm.
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Silver’s health
Silver was reported to be ill when he received his sentence, which is why he was incarcerated at Devens Medical Center. During his 2020 trial, his lawyers said Silver had a history of cancer and chronic kidney disease, as per The New York Times.
His lawyers requested home confinement for their client, stating Silver was an “obese man in his 70s” which, along with his history of illness, put him at high risk of contracting covid-19.
Silver wrote to the judge before sentencing: “Your honour, I do not want to die in prison.”
Who is Rosa Silver?
Silver is a former elementary special-needs teacher at New York’s PS 199.
According to the New York Post, the couple have been married for 54 years. They lived in a lower Manhattan apartment not far from Silver’s first home.
There isn’t much other information about Rosa Silver online as she remains out of the public eye.
The couple have four children – Michelle (about 43), Jannie (51), Edward (53) and Esther Fried (40).
Michelle is married to Marcello Trebitsch and the couple have six children. Sheldon and Rosa Silver have eight grandchildren in total.
We send our condolences to the family and friends of Sheldon Silver at this difficult time.