Norman Seabrook, ex-NYC correction officers union boss, ordered released from prison early

Norman Seabrook, the disgraced former head of the New York City correction officers union, was ordered Thursday to be released early from federal prison, where he’s locked up on a 5-year sentence for taking a bribe related to members’ pensions.

Seabrook, 63, has served 21 months and is imprisoned in Beaver, West Virginia. He was convicted in 2018 of conspiracy and bribery-related fraud for taking a $60,000 cash bribe from the now-former chairman of a hedge fund firm — money stuffed in a bag bought from luxury goods purveyor Salvatore Ferragamo.

"It's time Norman Seabrook got paid," he said in arranging for the payoff, according to trial testimony.

On Thursday, invoking a Trump-era law called the First Step Act meant to reduce the severity of criminal punishments, Judge Alvin Hellerstein of U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York cited the lesser sentence meted out to the man who bribed Seabrook, co-defendant Murray Huberfeld, as the result of a favorable appeal.

Keeping Seabrook locked up for much longer than his co-defendant would be "unjust," the judge wrote in a ruling dated Thursday.

Seabrook is otherwise scheduled for release Dec. 18, 2024, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons' inmate lookup.

As a result of the bribe, $20 million of pension money of members of Seabrook's union, the 9,000-member Correction Officers Benevolent Association, was invested in Huberfeld's fund, of which $19 million was lost.

Huberfeld pleaded guilty and was eventually sentenced to 30 months imprisonment. But he appealed the sentence, and a higher court ruled that technically the terms of the plea held the "victim" to be Huberfeld's firm and the loss to be $60,000, not the union and $19 million, according to Hellerstein’s summary. 

In essence, the higher court ruled that the judge had erroneously relied on sentencing guidelines for bribery, which Huberfeld was originally charged with, rather than for fraud, which is what he pleaded guilty to. He was consequently resentenced to 13 months in prison.

Seabrook then sought to have his own sentence reduced, citing the disparity created by Huberfeld's new, lower sentence. Hellerstein agreed, and ordered Seabrook's release on "compassionate" and fairness grounds.

Hellerstein stayed his order for 10 days to allow for any appeal. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District, which prosecuted the men, didn't return a call Saturday seeking comment. 

Seabrook, a man who relished cigars and fancy suits, was the union boss for 21 years — muscle he flexed to defend guards, secure favorable labor contracts and garner enormous political influence but also stifle attempts to combat corruption and brutality at the city's jails, including on Rikers Island.

In 2016, he was ousted by the union executive board the morning after he was indicted.

The day he was convicted, he told his wife and other relatives in court to "stop crying," turned with a grin to a reporter and proclaimed, “I’m still smiling.” Later, outside court, he shook hands with U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Geoffrey Berman and said, "I will be vindicated because God is still on his throne.”