Former NY Congressman Mario Biaggi Dies At 97

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- A longtime New York congressman who was forced to resign after two corruption convictions has died. Mario Biaggi was 97.

Biaggi's longtime spokesman, Mortimer Matz, says Biaggi died Wednesday at his Bronx home.

Biaggi was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1968 after a highly decorated career in the NYPD. He ran unsuccessfully for mayor of New York City in 1973.

Biaggi resigned from Congress in 1988 after being convicted of extorting $1.8 million in stock from the Wedtech Corp.

He served two years in federal prison but always maintained his innocence.

The congressman was also convicted in 1987 of accepting an unlawful gratuity -- a $3,200 vacation at a Florida spa -- but was acquitted on more serious bribery and conspiracy charges.

He tried to regain his old congressional seat in 1992 but was not successful.

Biaggi's survivors include his four children, 11 grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

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