Feds to retry Pedro Espada on other counts

Former State Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada will be retried on four counts of theft and conspiracy that were not resolved Monday by the Brooklyn federal jury that convicted him on four other felonies, a source familiar with the case said Tuesday.

Prosecutors also intend to retry Espada's son, Pedro Gautier Espada, on theft and conspiracy charges that jurors in Brooklyn deadlocked over.

And in a separate case, both Espadas still face tax charges in federal court in Manhattan.

The elder Espada, 58, was convicted Monday of stealing more than $500,000 from his Bronx-based Soundview health network through freewheeling personal spending on meals, home improvements and other perks on a corporate credit card and by siphoning money to a for-profit janitorial company he owned.

But the jury could not agree on a similar theft charge for 2009, was hung on all theft charges against his son, who worked at Soundview, and deadlocked on conspiracy charges against the two men.

Prosecutors were ordered by U.S. District Judge Frederic Block to make an official decision on retrial by June 5. A scheduled retrial could provide leverage on a planned federal claim for nearly $500,000 in forfeiture from Espada, and on New York State's efforts to wrest control of Soundview from the Espadas.

Prosecutors said on Monday they will ask Block to order Espada to cease any participation in Soundview's affairs pending his sentencing. He faces up to 40 years in prison on his four felony convictions, but his attorney said an appeal is likely.