[2] Brasco was indicted in 1973, along with his uncle, Joseph Brasco, on federal bribery and conspiracy charges, over payoffs he received from a Mafia-owned Bronx trucking company which was seeking mail hauling contracts from the US Post Office.

He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to five years in prison, with all but three months suspended.

[3][4][5] As a result of the preceding investigation into corruption allegations by the United States Department of Justice he crossed party lines to vote against allowing the House Banking Committee under Wright Patman to subpoena members of the Nixon administration for suspected Federal Election Campaign Act violations.

Brasco's vote was considered surprising because of his liberal record and strong opposition to Richard Nixon.

Governor Nelson Rockefeller arranged a meeting between Brasco and John N. Mitchell in which he promised to oppose an investigation in exchange for leniency.