The Nation - News from Dec. 17, 1987

A former New York National Guard general accused in the Wedtech scandal was cleared of bribery charges. The jury of nine women and three men deliberated for 12 hours in state Supreme Court in Manhattan before acquitting Bernard Ehrlich of second-degree bribery. Ehrlich, 59, was accused of paying Gen. Vito Castellano, the former chief of the state militia, $58,000 in bribes between March, 1984, and March, 1986, to lobby Congress on behalf of Wedtech Corp., a Bronx defense contractor. Ehrlich was Wedtech’s lawyer and director at the time. He still faces federal racketeering charges in the case and is scheduled to go on trial in U.S. District Court in Manhattan along with his law partner, Rep. Mario Biaggi (D-N.Y.) and the congressman’s son, Richard.