• Click through the slideshow to see the people indicted in the Buffalo Billion scandal.  Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, senior vice president and chief executive officer, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, resigned after been charged in September 2016 with federal wire fraud related to the alleged rigging of bids in favor of two upstate development firms. Kaloyeros was also charged on the state level with bid-rigging related to the development of a SUNY Poly dormitory. Kaloyeros stands across from new construction on the other side of Washington Avenue Extension at the college on Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011 in Albany, NY. ( Philip Kamrass / Times Union) Photo: Philip Kamrass / 00014779A
Photo: Philip Kamrass
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Click through the slideshow to see the people indicted in the Buffalo Billion scandal. 

Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, senior vice president and chief executive officer, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, resigned after been charged in September 2016 with federal wire fraud related to the alleged rigging of bids in favor of two upstate development firms. Kaloyeros was also charged on the state level with bid-rigging related to the development of a SUNY Poly dormitory. 

Kaloyeros stands across from new construction on the other side of Washington Avenue Extension at the college on Tuesday Sept. 27, 2011 in Albany, NY. ( Philip Kamrass / Times Union)
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Click through the slideshow to see the people indicted in the Buffalo Billion scandal. 

Dr. Alain E. Kaloyeros, senior vice president and chief executive officer, College of Nanoscale Science and
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Photo: Philip Kamrass
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Joseph Percoco, a former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, arrives at federal court as the jury continues to deliberate in his corruption trial, Monday, March 5, 2018, in New York. Prosecutors say Percoco solicited over $300,000 in bribes from the businessmen who needed help from the state. A defense lawyer says Percoco never took a bribe. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) less
Joseph Percoco, a former aide to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, arrives at federal court as the jury continues to deliberate in his corruption trial, Monday, March 5, 2018, in New York. Prosecutors say Percoco ... more
Photo: Mark Lennihan
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Todd Howe was a long-time Cuomo friend who in September 2016 pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including several related to his role of bagman in schemes involving the exchange of cash from developers in exchange for official favors from former top gubernatorial aide Joe Percoco.


who was supposed to be the government's star witness in the bribery trial of Joseph Percoco, a former top aide to Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. In the weeks before the Percoco trial, it came to light that Howe tried to improperly recover the cost of a fancy Manhattan hotel room from a credit card company after signing an agreement not to commit any more crimes. (Will Waldron/The Albany Times Union via AP, File)

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Todd Howe was a long-time Cuomo friend who in September 2016 pleaded guilty to multiple felonies, including several related to his role of bagman in schemes involving the exchange of cash from developers in

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Photo: Will Waldron
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Steven Aiello, an executive of Syracuse-based COR Development, was a co-defendant in the corruption trial of Joseph Percoco. Aiello was found guilty of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.

Aiello faces additional charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, though prosecutors dropped a charge that Aiello allegedly made a false statement to federal agents. His trial is scheduled to begin June 18.

Here, Aiello arrives at federal court during the Percoco trial on Thursday, March 8, 2018, in New York.(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

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Steven Aiello, an executive of Syracuse-based COR Development, was a co-defendant in the corruption trial of Joseph Percoco. Aiello was found guilty of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud.

Aiello

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Photo: Mark Lennihan
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Louis Ciminelli, CEO of Buffalo-based development company LPCiminelli, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges stem from an alleged bid-rigging scheme involving Buffalo Billion-funded development.


Times Union staff photo by Paul Buckowski --- Louis Ciminelli, chairman and CEO of LPCiminelli, takes part in a panel discussion following the rally held by the Unshackle Upstate Coalition, in Albany, N.Y. on Tuesday, March 6, 2007.
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Louis Ciminelli, CEO of Buffalo-based development company LPCiminelli, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges stem from an alleged bid-rigging scheme involving Buffalo Billion-funded

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Photo: Paul Buckowski
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Michael Laipple, an executive at Buffalo-based development company LPCiminelli, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, but the charges were dropped on June 1, 2018. Laipple, right, and his attorney Herbert Greenman, leave U.S. District Court in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, after posting bond following an appearance in a corruption probe. The LPCiminelli executive was among eight people charged in a bribery and fraud case connected to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's efforts to revitalize the upstate New York economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson) less
Michael Laipple, an executive at Buffalo-based development company LPCiminelli, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, but the charges were dropped on June 1, 2018. Laipple, right, and his ... more
Photo: Carolyn Thompson
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Kevin Schuler, a former executive at the Buffalo development firm LPCiminelli, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2018, to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.


Kevin Schuler, right, leaves U.S. District Court in Buffalo, N.Y., Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016, after posting bond following an appearance in a corruption probe. The LPCiminelli vice president was among eight people charged in a bribery and fraud case connected to Gov. Andrew Cuomo's efforts to revitalize the upstate New York economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Thompson) 
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Kevin Schuler, a former executive at the Buffalo development firm LPCiminelli, pleaded guilty on May 18, 2018, to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.


Kevin Schuler, right, leaves U.S. District
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Photo: Carolyn Thompson
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Peter Galbraith Kelly Jr., who is known as "Braith," a former executive with Competitive Power Ventures Holdings, a Connecticut company pleaded guilty on May 11, 2018, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud: He admitted to defrauding CPV by misrepresenting that Percoco had obtained state ethics approval for his wife to work at CPV.


Kelly enters federal court, Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2018, in New York. He is a defendant, along with Joseph Percoco, in a case of alleged bid-rigging and bribery that reached some of the highest levels of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo's administration. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
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Peter Galbraith Kelly Jr., who is known as "Braith," a former executive with Competitive Power Ventures Holdings, a Connecticut company pleaded guilty on May 11, 2018, to conspiracy to commit wire fraud: He

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Photo: Mark Lennihan
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Joseph Gerardi, an executive at COR Development in Syracuse, was found not guilty on the charge of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.


An aerial image showing the outline for COR Development's Syracuse Inner Harbor project. (COR Development)
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Joseph Gerardi, an executive at COR Development in Syracuse, was found not guilty on the charge of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.


An aerial image showing the outline for COR Development's
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The Kaloyeros trial has a long list of potential witnesses. Click through the slideshow to see some of them. Albany NanoTech officials, from left to right, Brenda Birken, CNSE Vice President for Policy and Regulatory Affairs, Paul Tolley, CNSE Vice President for Disruptive Technologies, Steve Janack, CNSE Vice President for Marketing and Communications, Alain Kaloyeros, CNSE Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, John Loonan, CNSE Vice President for Finance and Fiscal Management, Pradeep Haldar, CNSE Acting Vice President for Green Energy Programs, Richard Brilla, CNSE Vice President for Strategy, Alliances and Consortia, Michael Fancher, CNSE Vice President for Business Development and Economic Outreach, and Robert Geer, CNSE Vice President for Academic Affairs, pose at the Albany NanoTech campus in Albany, NY on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union)

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The Kaloyeros trial has a long list of potential witnesses. Click through the slideshow to see some of them. Albany NanoTech officials, from left to right, Brenda Birken, CNSE Vice President for Policy and

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Photo: Paul Buckowski
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RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson walks with IBM?s Dr. John Kelly lll through the supercomputing center at the Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush. Grant money sought to help fund a $125 million supercomputer was not awarded. Times Union staff photo by Lori Van Buren Lori Van Buren/TIMES UNION less
RPI President Shirley Ann Jackson walks with IBM?s Dr. John Kelly lll through the supercomputing center at the Rensselaer Technology Park in North Greenbush. Grant money sought to help fund a $125 million ... more
Photo: LORI VAN BUREN
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Times Union Photo by Skip Dickstein -- Alain Kaloyeros speaks of a grant between the State of New York and IBM of $150 million dollars to establish a Center For Excellence at the State University at Albany's Center for Nanoelectronics at a gathering at the CESTM building in Albany, New York April 23, 2001. In the background are from left to right; Governor George Pataki, John Kelly III from IBM; and SUNYA Pres. Karen Hitchcock. less
Times Union Photo by Skip Dickstein -- Alain Kaloyeros speaks of a grant between the State of New York and IBM of $150 million dollars to establish a Center For Excellence at the State University at Albany's ... more
Photo: SKIP DICKSTEIN, DG
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John Kelly III, senior vice president and director of IBM Research, addresses those gathered during an event at RPI on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 in Troy, NY. The event was held for IBM and RPI to announce that IBM will provide a modified version of the IBM Watson system to the college for use by students and faculty. (Paul Buckowski / Times Union) less
John Kelly III, senior vice president and director of IBM Research, addresses those gathered during an event at RPI on Wednesday, Jan. 30, 2013 in Troy, NY. The event was held for IBM and RPI to announce that ... more
Photo: Paul Buckowski
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Were you Seen at The College of Saint Rose Community of Excellence Awards luncheon honoring Marcia White, Michael Castellana and J. David Brown at Wolferts Roost in Albany on Thursday, June 16, 2016?
Were you Seen at The College of Saint Rose Community of Excellence Awards luncheon honoring Marcia White, Michael Castellana and J. David Brown at Wolferts Roost in Albany on Thursday, June 16, 2016?
Photo: Joe Putrock/Special To The Times Union
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Doug Grose at a Fort Schuyler Management Corporation board meeting on Monday, May 14, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)
Doug Grose at a Fort Schuyler Management Corporation board meeting on Monday, May 14, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)
Photo: PAUL BUCKOWSKI
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Doug Grose CEO of NY CREATES, at SUNY Poly on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)
Doug Grose CEO of NY CREATES, at SUNY Poly on Tuesday, May 1, 2018, in Albany, N.Y. (Paul Buckowski/Times Union)
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Walter "Jerry" Barber Source: SUNY Poly
Walter "Jerry" Barber Source: SUNY Poly
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Bob Blackman laughs with a friend. (Joe Putrock / Special to the Times Union)
Bob Blackman laughs with a friend. (Joe Putrock / Special to the Times Union)
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From left, Alain Kaloyeros, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Mike Fancher, Vice President for Business Development and Economic Outreach, give Professor Yigal Komem, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel, and Nili Shalev, Israel's economic minister to North America , a tour of Albany Nanotech, on June 12, 2012 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less
From left, Alain Kaloyeros, Senior Vice President and Chief Executive Officer, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Mike Fancher, Vice President for Business Development and Economic Outreach, give ... more
Photo: Lori Van Buren
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(Times Union archive) Mohawk Valley Edge President Steve DiMeo with Mohawk Valley EDGE employees at the Marcy Nanocenter site back in 2007. Six years later, the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering has agreed to build the site. less
(Times Union archive) Mohawk Valley Edge President Steve DiMeo with Mohawk Valley EDGE employees at the Marcy Nanocenter site back in 2007. Six years later, the SUNY College of Nanoscale Science and ... more
Photo: MICHAEL P. FARRELL
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David Doyle, right, works at the War Room prior to the swearing-in ceremony.
David Doyle, right, works at the War Room prior to the swearing-in ceremony.
Photo: Michael P. Farrell
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Dean Fuleihan, CNSE executive vice president fir strategic partnerships, speaks during the NanoCollege's Be the Change for Kid innovation awards on Thursday Sept. 26, 2013 in Albany, N.Y. CNSE awards school districts in the state with innovative awards for teaching math and sciences. (Michael P. Farrell/Times Union) less
Dean Fuleihan, CNSE executive vice president fir strategic partnerships, speaks during the NanoCollege's Be the Change for Kid innovation awards on Thursday Sept. 26, 2013 in Albany, N.Y. CNSE awards school ... more
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Florence Nelson, a PhD candidate at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, right, talks with Chris Borst, Assistant Vice President for Module Engineering, center, and Dean Fuleihan, Executive Vice President for Strategic Partnerships, left, at a high resolution transmission electron microscope at the schoo lon Wednesday Aug. 10, 2011 in Albany, NY. Students will be hired as paid interns for a new Silicon Valley company starting operations at the Albany complex. (Philip Kamrass / Times Union) less
Florence Nelson, a PhD candidate at the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, right, talks with Chris Borst, Assistant Vice President for Module Engineering, center, and Dean Fuleihan, Executive Vice ... more
Photo: Philip Kamrass
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From left, Professor Yigal Komem, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel, and Nili Shalev, Israel's economic minister to North America , get a tour of Albany Nanotech from Mike Fancher, Vice President for Business Development and Economic Outreach, on June 12, 2012 in Albany, N.Y. (Lori Van Buren / Times Union) less
From left, Professor Yigal Komem, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel, and Nili Shalev, Israel's economic minister to North America , get a tour of Albany Nanotech from Mike Fancher, Vice President ... more
Photo: Lori Van Buren
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Robert Geer, the who as chief operating officer of SUNY Polytechnic Institute led the school's Utica campus, is stepping down Dec. 1 and will return to SUNY Poly's faculty. Source: Times Union archive.
Robert Geer, the who as chief operating officer of SUNY Polytechnic Institute led the school's Utica campus, is stepping down Dec. 1 and will return to SUNY Poly's faculty. Source: Times Union archive.
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Brian Hannafin, vice president of corporate development at Danforth, at the Buffalo company's office at SUNY Poly's ZEN building. Source: Larry Rulison
Brian Hannafin, vice president of corporate development at Danforth, at the Buffalo company's office at SUNY Poly's ZEN building. Source: Larry Rulison
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Andrew Kennedy, president and CEO of Center for Economic Growth presents the findings of a first-of-its-kind survey of the Capital Region’s video game development cluster at the Tech Valley Center of Gravity Wednesday March 7, 2018 in Troy, NY. (John Carl D'Annibale/Times Union) less
Andrew Kennedy, president and CEO of Center for Economic Growth presents the findings of a first-of-its-kind survey of the Capital Region’s video game development cluster at the Tech Valley Center of Gravity ... more
Photo: John Carl D'Annibale
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Tom Louis is a former State Police senior investigator who retired in 2007. He is heading a police force being established as the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the State University of New York. (John Carl D'Annibale / Times Union) less
Tom Louis is a former State Police senior investigator who retired in 2007. He is heading a police force being established as the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering of the State University of New ... more
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Todd Howe
Todd Howe
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Thomas O'Brien
Thomas O'Brien
Photo: SUNY Poly
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Tom Birdsey, CEO and President of EYP speaks at the ribbon cutting at The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering(CNSE) of the University at Albany and Einhorn Yaffee Prescott(EYP) Architecture and Engineering PC of Albany at the the opening of a $3.5 million initiative that includes the opening of an Alternative Energy Test Farm and the development of a joint educational and workforce training program to prepare the professional who will design and operat the high-tech buliding of the 21st century at a ceremony at CNSE in Albany, New York December 14, 2009. less
Tom Birdsey, CEO and President of EYP speaks at the ribbon cutting at The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering(CNSE) of the University at Albany and Einhorn Yaffee Prescott(EYP) Architecture and ... more
Photo: Skip Dickstein, TIMES UNION
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Alicia Dicks worked for National Grid before she took a job as president of Fort Schuyler Management Corp. She is currently CEO of The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties.
Alicia Dicks worked for National Grid before she took a job as president of Fort Schuyler Management Corp. She is currently CEO of The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties.
Photo: Community Foundation
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Times Union staff photo by Paul Buckowski Brenda Lubrano-Birken, General Counsel and Director of Legal Services for University at Albany, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, poses outside one of the clean rooms at the college in Albany, N.Y. on Monday, June 19, 2006. Birken has been elected to the National Board of Directors, and is also Corporate Secretary for the Alliance of Technology and Women. less
Times Union staff photo by Paul Buckowski Brenda Lubrano-Birken, General Counsel and Director of Legal Services for University at Albany, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, poses outside ... more
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NEW YORK – In 1990, Alain Kaloyeros was a 34-year-old assistant professor of physics at the State University of Albany committed to teaching.

"I love academics," he told the Times Union that December. "I don't love industry."

Over the next three decades, Kaloyeros became the face of the semiconductor industry in New York state – and, now, its scandal.

On Monday, Kaloyeros, the founding president and former CEO of SUNY Polytechnic Institute, will stand trial with three co-defendants in U.S. District Court in Manhattan charged with secretly rigging the bids of state contracts worth hundreds of millions of dollars to be awarded to two allegedly favored companies, COR Development in Syracuse and LPCiminelli in Buffalo.

Kaloyeros, 62, of Slingerlands, allegedly engaged in the bid-rigging through his control over projects funded by the Fort Schuyler Management Corp., a nonprofit development arm of SUNY Poly that receives substantial state funding. A charismatic figure Kaloyeros drove a Ferrari and was among the state's highest paid annual employees; at times he made more than $801,000 in state pay and another $507,413 from the Research Foundation of the State University of New York.

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Unlike many political corruption cases, which are centered on allegations that an official took payoffs, Kaloyeros is not accused of enriching himself. Rather, federal prosecutors for U.S. Attorney Geoffrey Berman contend Kaloyeros, known as "Dr. K," took part in the alleged bid-rigging for self-preservation and to maintain his status with Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

Kaloyeros "understood that he was at risk of being fired and losing his highly paid position," the prosecutors said in pre-trial court filings. They said that's why in 2012, Kaloyeros sought out and hired lobbyist Todd Howe, a former aide to late Gov. Mario Cuomo and later his son when Andrew Cuomo served as the federal housing secretary.

"When the administration first came in, they viewed Dr. Kaloyeros skeptically," Assistant U.S. Attorney David Zhou said at a pre-trial hearing on June 6.

Kaloyeros hired Howe  "to serve as kind of a link with the governor's office," the prosecutor said.

Prosecutors say Howe counseled Kaloyeros that LPCiminelli and COR developers were "friends" who had contributed large amounts of money to the governor's re-election campaign. The companies had hired Howe and were paying him for his services.

In December 2013,  COR was awarded a contract with the Fort Schuyler Management Corp. to be the "preferred developer" for SUNY Poly projects around Syracuse, including $15 millon to build a film studio and another $90 million to build a manufacturing plant. In January 2014, LPCiminelli similarly became the "preferred developer" for SUNY Poly projects around Buffalo, which included a contract at Buffalo's Riverbend site that became worth $750 million and is now a SolarCity facility, the indictment said.

It was all part of money dubbed the "Buffalo Billion" to boost economic development upstate. Depending on who's talking, it either became a major success, albeit with a black eye, or a giant boondoggle.

Prosecutors allege Kaloyeros and Howe had Fort Schuyler secretly give advance copies of request-for-proposals (RFPs) to the executives in Buffalo and Syracuse so they could get information that no other companies could get. The RFPs became tailored to those companies' specifics and would have the appearance of being part of an open competition, they said.

"We anticipate proving at trial that part of the motivation for rigging the bid in favor of LPCiminelli and COR Development was because those companies were clients of Todd Howe -- as well as major contributors to the governor," Zhou said.

"We don't intend to put in anything – other than his salary -- as part of his motivation for keeping his job," he said, "and, actually, we'll have testimony that Dr. Kaloyeros was very motivated to become a president of a SUNY university rather than just the head of a college within the University of Albany. Other than his compensation, we're not planning to introduce any evidence of wealth."

Kaloyeros, COR Development executives Steve Aiello, 60, and Joseph Gerardi, 58, and LPCiminelli chairman and CEO Louis Ciminelli, 62,  are being tried before Judge Valerie Caproni in a trial expected to last up to five weeks.  All four defendants are charged with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Gerardi is also charged with making false statements to federal officers.

It is the second of two corruption trials this year before Caproni involving ex-aides to Cuomo, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

About the trial

This is the second in a series of stories highlighting the issues surrounding next week's bid-rigging trial. See the previous story here

Defendants: SUNY Polytechnic Institute founder and CEO Alain Kaloyeros of Slingerlands, COR Development president Steven Aiello and COR Development general counsel Joseph Gerardi,  whose company is in Syracuse, and LPCiminelli CEO Louis Ciminelli, based in Buffalo.

Charges

Count 1: Conspiracy to Commit Wire Fraud

From 2013 to 2015, Kaloyeros, Aiello, Gerardi and Ciminelli allegedly used electronic email and telephonic communications to conspire to defraud the Fort Schuyler Management Corp. of its right to control its assets and exposed it to economic harm when they represented to Fort Schuyler that the bidding process in awarding hundreds of millions of dollars in state contracts was fair and open and competitive when they allegedly used their official positions to rig the bids for contracts so COR Development and LPCiminelli could be awarded them.

Count  2: Wire Fraud

From 2013 to 2015, Kaloyeros, Aiello and Gerardi allegedly engaged in wire fraud in connection with a scheme to rig the bid for SUNY Poly projects in the Syracuse area, which included $15 million to build a film studio and $90 million to build a manufacturing plant.

Count 3: Wire Fraud

From 2013 to 2015, Kaloyeros and Ciminelli allegedly engaged in wire fraud in connection with a scheme to rig the bid for SUNY Poly projects in the Buffalo area, including a contract for $750 million at what is now a SolarCity facility.

Count 4: False Statements to Federal Officers

On June 21, 2016, Gerardi allegedly made materially false, fictitious and fraudulent statements and representations to federal officers in denying involvement in tailoring the Syracuse RFP for the benefit of his company.

Venue: U.S. District Court in Manhattan

Prosecution lawyers: Assistant U.S. Attorneys Robert Boone, David Zhou and Matthew Podolsky.

Defense attorneys: Kaloyeros' lawyers include Michael Miller, Reid Weingarten and Michael Scavelli;  Aiello is represented by Stephen Coffey, Pamela Nichols and Scott Iseman; Gerardi by Milton Williams, Avni Patel and Jacob Gardner;  Ciminelli by Paul Shechtman, Jessica Masella and Tim Hoover.

For daily updates and coverage by Robert Gavin, see www.timesunion.com and tweets from the Times Union and @robertgavinTU

The first trial ended in the convictions of Joseph Percoco, the governor's former top aide, Aiello on a count of conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and the acquittal on all charges of Gerardi. Peter Galbraith Kelly, a former executive with Competitive Power Ventures, had a mistrial but later pleaded guilty.

The biggest difference between the first trial and this one is Howe, the star witness last winter, will not be called to testify. Prosecutors instead are relying evidence such as emails, a major part of the first trial, and testimony from Kevin Schuler, a former vice president at LPCiminelli who pleaded guilty in May to wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Schuler and Michael Laipple, another former LPCiminelli, were both to be tried alongside Kaloyeros, Aiello, Gerardi and Ciminelli, but Schuler cut his deal and federal prosecutors dropped all charges against Laipple.

The government's decision to not call Howe carries pluses and minuses. Howe, a Troy native, worked closely with Kaloyeros and even had his own office and parking spot on the SUNY Poly campus. Howe could walk the jury through the alleged bid-rigging schemes and directly implicate each of the defendants.

Howe also is a convicted felon being jailed at the Metropolitan Correctional Center -- even the judge referred to him as a "scoundrel." Howe has been at MCC since being arrested in mid-trial last time when it was revealed that, as he was negotiating his deal with the federal government, he stiffed his credit card company the $600 cost of a night stay at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.

Howe's absence from the witness list notwithstanding, Kaloyeros' attorney Michael Miller made it clear in pre-trial statements and filings that he plans to focus on the former lobbyist. Miller subpoenaed the MCC to try to obtain all information the facility had about "visits, statements, monitored telephone conversations, emails, and other communications" of Howe.

"Todd Howe is a serial fraudster who was never fully honest with his clients, including Dr. Kaloyeros, about who he was doing business with and whose interests he was representing at a particular moment," Miller wrote to the judge. "In short, Dr. Kaloyeros has a right to seek and offer evidence tending to prove that Mr. Howe's version of events— adopted by the Government and its witnesses—was at odds with the truth. The Subpoena is a good faith effort to gather that evidence."

Prosecutors opposed the effort. Caproni did not entirely agree with the government's argument but quashed the subpoena Thursday.

Stephen Coffey, the Albany-based attorney for Aiello, and Milton Williams, the lawyer for Gerardi, argued at the June 6 hearing that it was not uncommon for developers to give input on RFPs.

"What they did not know and how they were duped is they did not know that Howe was doing other things unbeknownst to them that were illegal," Williams told the judge.

Ciminelli is being represented by attorney Paul Shechtman.

The trial is not Kaloyeros' first fight. He survived attacks in the 1970s while in Beirut, where he attended the American University. He left Lebanon in 1980 and in 1988, he received his doctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Kaloyeros chose the University at Albany because it offered a chance to teach, not just do research.

"This is the only place where I spent as much time interviewing about teaching as about research," he said at the time.

At the time, he said, "I love teaching."