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Todd Howe arrested after testimony in Percoco trial

Todd Howe, the star witness in the trial of Governor Cuomo's former top aide, was arrested Thursday night.
Todd Howe, left, and Joseph Percoco went on a fishing trip with Competitive Power Ventures executive Peter Galbraith Kelly in 2010. (Photo: Government exhibit)

ALBANY -- Todd Howe, the star witness in the trial of Gov. Andrew Cuomo's former top aide, was arrested Thursday night after he testified earlier in the day that he may have violated his cooperation agreement with prosecutors.

The remarkable turn in the trial of Cuomo's former top aide Joseph Percoco came in the third week of testimony in the case.

There was no immediate comment from the U.S. Attorney's Office on Howe's arrest or what charge he is facing, but he was listed Friday on the Federal Bureau of Prisons website as an inmate at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Manhattan.

The Wall Street Journal reported Howe was taken into custody Thursday night. Howe is waiting arraignment later Friday, a source familiar with the situation told the USA Today Network's Albany Bureau.

On the stand Thursday, defense attorneys peppered Howe with questions over him getting a hotel room at the Waldorf Astoria when he was meeting with prosecutors in the case in 2016.

Defense attorney Daniel Gitner, representing one of Percoco's three co-defendants, questioned Howe over the fact that he called a credit card company to dispute his $604 charge for a night at the hotel, the Associated Press reported.

The lawyer asked Howe if he realized he would be in violation of his plea agreement if he lied about the cost of the room.

"I sure hope not," Howe responded.

Then the lawyer asked whether he thought prosecutors would rip up the agreement or merely give him a stern lecture as they did when he diverted tens of thousands of dollars that he was supposed to put in escrow to pay debts of his choosing and other expenses.

"I'm not sure," Howe answered.

Earlier, Gitner exposed that Howe had failed to tell prosecutors that he lied on a disability application. He didn't reveal on the application that he had been convicted of a felony in 2010 for cheating a bank, the Associated Press said.

Howe has already pleaded guilty to eight felonies. Percoco is accused of taking bribes in exchange for using his influence in state government to help contractors with business with the state.

In Howe's case, he would have been required to tell prosecutors about his crimes as part of his agreement with them.

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