Former Parkway Head Guilty of $60,000 Bribe

Robert Aquino, former CEO of in Forest Hills, pleaded guilty on Tuesday to bribing state Sen. Carl Kruger, of Brooklyn, in 2008, U.S. Attornet Preet Bharara said.

Aquino, who had spent years trying to avoid the closure of the hospital, admitted to paying Kruger $60,000 through back channels in exchange for Kruger’s efforts at the state level to keep Parkway open.

“Robert Aquino was all too willing to make sure a bribe was paid to preserve his job as CEO of a hospital. Like others in this case, he chose to fight his battle with money under the table rather than to play by the rules,” U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said. “And like others in this case, he now faces the prospect of jail. This office remains committed to breaking the chains of corruption that weigh down New York politics.”

Kruger pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit bribery last month.

A new effort to reopen the hospital was scuttled last year in its infancy when Aquino — who was still the figurehead of the defunct medical center —

Aquino faces five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000.