Joe Percoco was Gov. Andrew Cuomo's right-hand man, one of the most powerful people in state government, prosecutors said Tuesday. They allege that he abused that power, pocketing bribes from two companies in exchange for official favors.

At opening arguments Tuesday, they said that, in one instance, Percoco made a phone call on behalf of COR, a Syracuse-area developer. That same day, an unfavorable ruling regarding labor costs was reversed.

Prosecutor Robert Boone said, "Getting a call from Percoco was like getting a call from the governor himself. If Percoco called you about an issue, you made that issue your top priority."

"And if he asked you to do something, you did it, no questions asked," Boone said.

Prosecutors said Percoco referred to the payoffs using the code word ziti, a term borrowed from "The Sopranos," in emails with his close friend, lobbyist Todd Howe, who allegedly facilitated the bribes. Howe is cooperating with prosecutors and will be the prosecution's star witness.

In their opening arguments, defense attorneys trashed Howe, calling him a pathological liar, a tax cheat, a crook, a thief, an embezzler, and a lifelong con man who in some cases fabricated emails to look like they were written by Percoco.

In one alleged scheme, an energy company gave Percoco's wife a $90,000-a-year job that involved little work, then concealed the payments and her involvement. Defense attorneys said she was hired as a favor to Percoco, but not as a bribe, and that the work was legitimate. And while Percoco may have done some favors and arranged meetings, his lawyer said, he took no official action, in part because some of the alleged schemes took place when he was off the state payroll. Percoco has made mistakes, his lawyer said, including filing false disclosure forms, but he has not committed a federal crime.

The first witness on the stand Tuesday was an FBI agent testifying about the Percocos' finances. Next up is Cuomo's chief of staff, Linda Lacewell.