After being arrested earlier this week on corruption charges, Norman Seabrook has been ousted from his position as president of the Correction Officers' Benevolent Association and replaced by his second in command, who's been described as a faithful sidekick of Seabrook's who the former chief consulted before making his allegedly corrupt investments.

Seabrook, who'd led the union for two decades, was arrested early Wednesday morning and charged with wire fraud: he allegedly funneled millions of union retiree benefits and operating funds into a hedge fund run by Murray Huberfeld, who's said to have given him six-figure kickbacks each year, per their agreement. Huberfeld has also been arrested on wire fraud charges.

Huberfeld was allegedly fronted $60,000 for Seabrook's first kickback by a cooperating witness reported to be Jona Rechnitz, who's also been implicated in an investigation into the legality of Mayor de Blasio's campaign fundraising. That $60,000 was delivered in a briefcase from Salvatore Ferragamo, Seabrook's "favorite store," and federal agents found that bag, along with 10 pairs of Ferragamo shoes, when raiding the ousted union chief's home on Wednesday, prosecutors said.

"I understand this is politics," Seabrook told Eyewitness News yesterday. "I understand it. And, you know, it's my turn in the battle. But at the end of the day, we will be victorious...I only ask that people continue to respect our privacy, respect what we do, and we'll go from there."

On Thursday, COBA's executive board voted to remove Seabrook as president—but his replacement, Elias Husamudeen, is a longtime sidekick of Seabrook's, and was reportedly among those who voted in favor of investing in Huberfeld's fund, Platinum Partners. Martin Horn, who was the city Commissioner of Correction and Probation from 2003 to 2009, told the Wall Street Journal that Husamadeen was a member of Seabrook's inner circle, and described him as "a strong advocate, but a very different guy than Norman...He has always been a peacemaker. When things get roiled up, he comes and smooths them up."

Indeed, many have described COBA's executive board as weak and essentially in Seabrook's pocket—the criminal complaint against him said as much, stating that despite the board's existence, Seabrook made "many significant decisions affecting COBA, including financial decisions, unilaterally. Members of the executive board rarely question Seabrook because Seabrook has the power to make decisions that affect their livelihood, for example, by stripping them of their status as board members (and the accompanying salary), sending them back to work as correction officers at a jail, or altering their hours."

"Norman is a tyrant," former board member William Valentin, who was kicked out by Seabrook in 2015, told the New York Times. "The executive board is pretty much under his control. They really don't argue with him too much. Whatever he says goes."

With that in mind, it's not clear that Seabrook's ousting will lessen his hold over the executive board and its new president. On top of that, Seabrook's name is still on the ballot for this summer's unionwide elections, and if he wins, Husamadeen will continue to act as president in his stead.

In a statement yesterday, Husamudeen said that "the current leadership of COBA will remain focused on protecting the women and men in uniform who risk their lives working in our jails every day. Our officers face an increase in gang violence, an increase in encounters with the mentally ill that they are inadequately trained for, and an increase in overtime that is pushing them to the brink. These issues are too important to allow for distractions."

As the result of a class-action lawsuit joined by U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, whose office brought Wednesday's charges against Seabrook, federal monitors are now overseeing reforms at Rikers Island, which has been accused of a "deep-seated culture of violence", particularly toward inmates. The monitors' most recent report found serious flaws at the Correction Department's training academy, and persistent violence by guards against restrained inmates.

Seabrook has opposed many of the changes that de Blasio's administration has sought at Rikers, especially the scaling back of solitary confinement for 18- to 21-year-olds. His ousting, therefore, might seem a boon to reformers—but Seabrook commanded the respect and loyalty of the city's correction officers, and the Times points out that his absence could make it more difficult for reformers to try and gain their support.

"It has been a very fraught relationship over the years," de Blasio said Tuesday when asked about Seabrook. "Sometimes we’ve been able to work together. Sometimes there was real disagreement. I haven't spoken to him in several months. We have a lot we've been trying to change on Rikers Island. Sometimes he was willing to work with us, sometimes he wasn't. But the reform on Rikers Island will continue aggressively."