New York’s Democrat Lieutenant Governor Brian Benjamin surrendered to authorities on Tuesday following an indictment for conspiracy to commit bribery.

BREAKING w/@WRashbaum: NY Lt. Gov Brian Benjamin surrendered Tuesday morning to face a federal bribery conspiracy indictment in connection with a scheme to funnel fraudulent donations to a previous campaign.https://t.co/4SYFqbPA70

— Nicholas Fandos (@npfandos) April 12, 2022

Benjamin was initially elected to the New York State Senate in a May 2017 special election. He served in the Senate from 2017 to 2021. He then ran for NYC Comptroller but lost in the primary. In August 2021, Benjamin was appointed to the Lt. Governor position by Governor Kathy Hochul, after she replaced Andrew Cuomo following his resignation.

The indictment concerns an alleged campaign scheme in connection with Benjamin’s unsuccessful bid for Comptroller. Per the NY Times:

The indictment, the result of an investigation by the F.B.I. and the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, accused Mr. Benjamin of conspiring to direct state funds to a Harlem real estate investor in exchange for orchestrating thousands of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to Mr. Benjamin’s unsuccessful 2021 campaign for New York City comptroller, the people said. The investor was arrested on federal charges in November.

The five-count indictment also charges that Benjamin “engaged in a series of lies and deceptions to cover up the scheme,” including falsifying campaign forms and lying on the background check run in connection with his appointment to the Lt. Gov. position.

Indictment just landed: Five counts. https://t.co/4SYFqbPA70 pic.twitter.com/8gnFx04V8P

— Nicholas Fandos (@npfandos) April 12, 2022

As noted by the Times, Benjamin indicated recently he had been cooperating with law enforcement on the matter but maintained he expected to be cleared on the matter.

This development presents a bit of a quandary for the upcoming primary in June:

Mr. Benjamin will almost certainly face pressure to resign from office. Even if he were to step down, he will likely remain on the ballot in June, when he faces two spirited primary challengers. Because Mr. Benjamin was designated as the Democratic Party’s nominee for lieutenant governor, his name can only be removed at this point if he were to move out of the state, die or seek another office.

At this point, Benjamin’s troubles do not appear to implicate Governor Hochul.