Well, we guess the voters were right to re-elect Charles Hynes back in 2005, when he was pushed fairly hard in the democratic primary by challenger, state Sen. John Sampson. (Hynes won by about four percentage points.)

Sampson, a 15-year veteran of the Legislature and chair of the senate ethics committee, was arrested today on two counts of embezzlement for, in part, using money embezzled from accounts of sales of foreclosed houses--over which he was supposed to be the protector--to finance that campaign against Hynes. He was also charged with tampering with evidence and witnesses.

Say what one wants about Hynes--and we have--but then imagine if Sampson had actually defeated the long-serving DA. Brooklynites would have an accused embezzler and evidence and witness tamperer in the most powerful law enforcement position in the borough. Yikes!

"Senator Sampson allegedly stole that money to fund his own ambition to become Brooklyn's top state prosecutor, then engaged in an elaborate obstruction scheme to hide his illegal conduct, going so far as to counsel lies and the hiding of evidence," U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said.

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Given that it's Thursday, which means it's one day closer to Friday, we figured that it's time to shine some light on the good news out there in the world.

According to NYPD data released yesterday, the shooting and murder rates are down in New York City, with comparison to this time last year; the former has dropped by 24 percent and the latter by 30 percent.

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At the pace surveillance technology is moving, we guess this should be expected.

On Tuesday, Gov. Cuomo and Co. informed the public that Albany has been using advanced facial recognition methods for the past three years (the idea was originally brought up by then-Gov. Spitzer in 2008).

And, in that time, the State has dispatched more than 100 investigators to check out over 13,000 cases. As a result, 2,500 people on the terrorist watch lists or who were suspected of having criminal records have been arrested through the technology. Somehow, from those figures, state officials have bragged that the technology has a 94 percent success rate.

Also, don't forget those conning welfare benefits or driving illegally without a license: "We are successfully taking dangerous drivers off our roads, helping to track down criminals, and protecting taxpayer dollars... sending a clear message that New York State does not tolerate identity fraud and those who try will be caught," Cuomo told reporters.

Here's how it works.

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Another day, another doctor goes down for illegally distributing highly addictive prescription painkillers, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman says.

Earlier this week, Manhattan-based doctor Felix Rodriguez pleaded guilty. Now, it's Dr. David Brizer's turn. And this case is in some ways worse. Authorities say Brizer, 60, sold millions of dollars worth of painkillers and hid nearly $500,000 in ill-gotten gains from the IRS.

Brizer, based in Rockland County and in midtown, now faces 1 to 3 years in prison for pleading guilty to drug and tax charges, and a fine of $42,712. Brizer admitted to selling prescriptions in 2011 and 2012 for 240 pills to drug dealers without any medical reason. He typically charged $300 per prescription. He used fake names on the prescriptions.

"Instead of caring for the sick, Dr. Brizer used his medical license to place powerful addictive narcotics in the hands of drug dealers and feed a prescription drug epidemic that is devastating communities and families across New York," Schneiderman said.

Yet another disgraced doctor has pleaded guilty to dealing out highly addictive painkillers like candy, federal prosecutors in Manhattan say. This time, the axe fell on Felix Rodriguez, a 52-year-old Manhattan physician living in the Bronx, who pled out to distributing 1,000 Oxycodone pills. He'll be sentenced in May.

Like other bent doctors caught up in a law enforcement crackdown on illegal distribution of painkillers, for more than a year, Rodriguez, a doctor of internal medicine, was writing hundreds of prescriptions for people who he hadn't ever examined or even met. The pills were going to a drug gang who then resold them on the street for as much as $30 each. When he was arrested in 2011, authorities estimated that as many as 50,000 pills were involved.

As the Voice noted in its report in December, more people fatally overdose on prescription painkillers than cocaine and heroin combined. More people die from painkillers than are killed in traffic accidents. Authorities say it's the fastest-growing drug problem in the country.

"Rodriguez made a deal with the devil and profited by the sale of
powerful pain medication for illegitimate use," says DEA Special-Agent-in-Charge Brian C. Crowell.

In a week filled with headlines of a fired LAPD cop gone on a killing spree after posting a murderous 'manifesto' on Facebook, this story should unsettle you.

Yesterday, the New York Post reported that NYPD deputy inspector Joseph Gulotta was virtually targeted on the social network when an anonymous user posted intimate details on the specific Precinct's page about said inspector and ordered a "hit" on him. The details included the police officer's schedule (down to the exact hours) and car model. Almost immediately, the D.I. filed a complaint against the harrowing message and it has since been removed.

Mr. Gulotta is in charge of Brooklyn's 73rd District - home to Brownsville, East New York and other neighborhoods with particularly high levels of violence. His unit is known for its knack to monitor Facebook for suspected criminals - kinda like the one we're dealing with here - and its most recent social media gang bust landed 49 members. As of now, the NYPD believe the user may belong to a gang prevalent in the area known as OccFam.

But whoever it may be, the lesson here is simple: Facebook can be a real dark place for criminals and police... if it wants to be.

[jsurico15@gmail.com/@JSuricz]

Nemo was able to shut down power, the Long Island Expressway and most of the news over the weekend. But, somehow, it apparently couldn't prevent the unfortunate plague of crime in New York City.

The first shooting victim came Friday night during the apex of the snowstorm. At a baby shower up on East 165th Street, a 20-year-old man was fatally shot just after midnight as the blizzard began to weather down on the City. Also, the man's cousin was shot but is currently in critical condition. There's video surveillance that shows the attackers but the police told the New York Post that no one has been charged yet with the shootings.

The violence continued into Saturday night.

At around 8:50pm, a 19-year-old man was found with two fatal gun wounds in his back at a bodega in Brooklyn. Once again, the cops are still unsure what happened while no arrests have been made. And then three hours later, a 54-year-old man was found dead at a motel in Elmhurst. The officials on the scene determined it was homicide and could be the result of a strangling.

And we haven't even mentioned the other shootings that went down this weekend yet.

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Can marketing counterfeit versions of Sponge Bob Square Pants (actual cartoon at right) and Dora the Explorer filled with lead, other dangerous chemicals and choking hazards to children make you rich?

Yes, boys and girls, it sure can.

The feds reported today they seized a Porsche and a Lexus, along with personal and corporate bank accounts from five people and five corporations charged with importing and selling counterfeit toys containing banned chemicals in Queens and Brooklyn.

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A female officer in a Brooklyn federal holding facility repeatedly had sex in the jail with a convicted cop killer and actually got pregnant by him, and had an affair with a second inmate while she was pregnant, federal prosecutors said today.

The affair between the inmate, Ronell Wilson, and the guard, Nancy Gonzalez, took place over the four months between April and August of last year in the Metropolitan Detention Center. Other inmates evidently dropped a dime on their affair.

Wilson was convicted of murder in the shooting deaths of detectives Rodney Andrew and James Nemorin on Staten Island on March 10, 2003.

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In late August, Democratic State Senator Shirley Huntley called an emergency 11 a.m. press conference at her home in Jamaica, Queens. There, she announced to the crowd that she would be arrested the following Monday by authorities for embezzlement charges regarding a non-profit education group she started called The Parents Workshop.

Now, eight months later, that announcement has come to fruition: Yesterday, Ms. Huntley pleaded guilty to the charges after being indicted for concealing donation documents from "straw donors." She admitted under oath that she willingly used government grants for her group to buy luxurious items and personal gifts for her family -- a revelation similar to the one at the center of the controversy that landed former Bronx City Councilman Larry Seabrook with jail time just a few weeks ago.

As a result, the former State Senator faces two years in prison and must reimburse the taxpayers about $87,000 in stolen funds. Also, she will have to pay back the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey $1,000 for an apparent bribery scheme in which cargo supplies were moved from JFK Airport. Oh, and she's still facing a sentence in Nassau County Supreme Court because that's how far this scam spread.

Corruption can really hurt sometimes.