NEW YORK (AP) - New York and its Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo start this year’s legislative session facing the latest taint on its already tarnished reputation for government ethics with the arrest of Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who bent state government to his will for more than 20 years as one of the state’s most powerful and canny politicians.

The 70-year-old Democrat was taken into custody Thursday by the FBI on federal charges that he took nearly $4 million in payoffs and kickbacks, crimes that carry up to 100 years in prison and could cost him his political seat. He was released on $200,000 bail.

Cuomo lamented the added “negativity” associated with state government as good government groups renewed calls for him to do more and critics accused him of flagging on past anti-corruption initiatives.

U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said Silver, a lawyer by training, lined up jobs at two firms and then accepted large sums of money over more than a decade in exchange for using his “titanic” power to do political favors. The money was disguised as “referral fees,” Bharara said.

Silver, who seemed unfazed in court, did not enter a plea.

“I’m confident that after a full hearing and due process I’ll be vindicated on the charges,” said Silver, who even paused on his way out of court to sign a sketch artist’s rendering of the scene.

The arrest sent shock waves through New York’s Capitol and came just a day after Silver shared the stage with Cuomo during his State of the State address, as Cuomo joked that he, Silver and the Senate majority leader were the “three amigos” of state government.

At a meeting Thursday with the Daily News editorial board, Cuomo said of Silver’s arrest: “Obviously it’s bad for the speaker, but it’s also a bad reflection on government, and it adds to the negativity.”

Silver is one of Albany’s most storied political figures, a consummate backroom operator with the power to single-handedly decide the fate of legislation.

Along with the Senate majority leader and the governor, he plays a major role in creating state budgets, laws and policies in a system long criticized in Albany as “three men in a room.” He controls, for example, which lawmakers sit on which committees and decides whether a bill gets a vote.

In a measure of his clout, he helped persuade Cuomo last spring to disband a state anti-corruption commission that was investigating Silver’s financial dealings and those of his colleagues.

Despite his outsized influence, he is pretty much an unknown outside New York state. Even in Albany, he is one of the most private and least-understood figures, sometimes called “the Sphinx.”

Silver’s wealth has long been a subject of discussion and controversy. But Bharara said New Yorkers could stop wondering.