BROOKLYN--Former Democratic Assemblyman Clarence Norman, Jr. has been sentenced to one to three years in prison for extorting money from a judicial candidate in 2002.

In February, Norman, a former chairman of the Kings County Democratic Committee, was convicted of third degree grand larceny, fourth degree attempted grand larceny and second degree coercion. He was sentenced to one to three years in prison for the felony, to run concurrent to two one-year sentences for the misdemeanors. He was also ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution to former Judge Karen Yellen, the candidate he was convicted of extorting.

The payments were supposed to cover the costs of election-day campaign operations provided by Norman's political allies. Yellen believed the work would not benefit her, but Norman threatened to withdraw the Democrat party's support of her campaign if she did not pay one operative $9,000 and another $1,000.

The sentence handed down by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Martin Marcus will follow two other consecutive one-to-three-year sentences Norman has previously been ordered to serve, bringing his total sentence to three to nine years in prison. The first was for a felony election-law violation, and the second was for third degree grand larceny which Norman was convicted of after depositing a $5,000 campaign contribution into his own bank account for personal use. 4-20-07

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