US: A look at corruption in New Jersey

Mayor Sharpe James indicted on 33 counts of corruption
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A look at corruption in New Jersey

July 12, 2007, 2:18 PM EDT


The indictment Thursday of Sharpe James, the former longtime Newark mayor and a current state senator, is the latest example of corruption in New Jersey. Here are a few other cases of high-profile officials disgraced in recent years:

_ State Sen. Wayne Bryant in March was indicted on federal corruption charges tied to a state medical school job that officials said paid him $35,000 for no work.

_ Former state Senate President John Lynch pleaded guilty in October 2006 to tax evasion and fraud.

_ Several officials in Monmouth County have pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges as part of a federal sting in 2005.

_ Longtime Hudson County Executive, Robert C. Janiszewski, a Democrat, is serving a 41-month federal term after admitting he took more than $100,000 in bribes.

_ Nidia Davila Colon, a Hudson County freeholder, received a 2 1/2-year prison term for passing bribes to Janiszewski to help her then-boyfriend win county contracts.

_ Former Hoboken Mayor Anthony J. Russo was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after admitting taking bribes from an accountant and towing contractor.

_ Former Paterson Mayor Martin G. Barnes pleaded guilty in July 2003 of taking $200,000 worth of bribes from contractors doing business with the city.

_ Former Camden Mayor Milton Milan was convicted in 2000 of taking payoffs from the mob, laundering drug money and stealing campaign funds.

Copyright 2007 Newsday Inc.

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In Newark, Anxiety Grows Over Inquiry on Ex-Mayor
By DAVID KOCIENIEWSKI

In the month since Sharpe James, who ran Newark City Hall and much of Essex County’s municipal affairs for two decades, was notified by federal prosecutors that he could face criminal charges for corruption, the city’s political establishment has been bracing itself for an indictment, which many expect to come as early as today.

Mayor Cory A. Booker’s administration has been negotiating with the developers whose purchases of city land at below-market rates are a major facet of the investigation into whether Mr. James abused his office, and has been pressuring at least one developer to pay a price closer to market rates, in an attempt to recoup some of the city’s losses.

Mr. James, according to the state treasurer’s office, last week withdrew more than $500,000 from his $1.1 million retirement account at Essex County College, where he was the athletic director before becoming mayor in 1986. Many allies view the action as a sign that he is bracing for a long and costly legal fight.

Philip Thigpen, chairman of the Democratic Party in Essex County, said that Mr. James’s friends and opponents alike are anxious about what awaits the man who for years was the city’s most visible public figure.

“Nobody’s happy about it,” Mr. Thigpen said. “People are concerned because they know him and his family for years and don’t want to see anyone go through that kind of ordeal. And it’s not only him; it indicts an entire community. So we’ll just have to see if there are charges and how they play out.”

Christopher J. Christie, the United States attorney for New Jersey, declined to discuss the case, and his spokesman, Greg Reinert, would not say when, or if, charges might be filed. But the grand jury hearing evidence at United States District Court in Newark meets only on Thursdays, and several political officials in Essex County said on the condition they not be named that they had been warned to prepare for a possible indictment this week.

The inquiry began last summer, as F.B.I. agents began examining more than $60,000 in travel expenses Mr. James charged on two city credit cards. Mr. James said in interviews last year that all the travel was for legitimate city business. But during the past several months, the grand jury has heard testimony from three city police officers who accompanied Mr. James as security guards on the trips, and a travel agent who booked more than $60,000 in trips for Mr. James and his entourage, including a $6,500 visit to Rio de Janeiro during his final week in office.

By fall, investigators had subpoenaed thousands of pages of city documents related to the sale of more than 5,000 lots at prices less than a quarter of their appraised value, often to friends, associates and campaign donors of Mr. James. Among them was Tamika Riley, a public relations consultant who occasionally traveled with the former mayor. Ms. Riley bought at least nine city-owned properties for $46,000 and quickly resold them for $700,000.

Prosecutors have called employees of the city housing department before the grand jury and have asked whether Mr. James personally directed Newark officials to sell property to his friends and political allies at a discount, according to people knowledgeable about the case who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Basil Franklin, the city’s former director of housing and development, testified last month. His lawyer, Henry Klingeman, declined to discuss the testimony, saying that Mr. Franklin “was an innocent bystander and not a target or subject of the investigation.”

As prosecutors and grand jurors have moved ahead in the criminal case, Mayor Booker has been pressing to recoup some of the land. He made the land sales a major issue during his campaign last year and won a court injunction blocking dozens of proposed sales, including three involving Ms. Riley.

In May, Mr. Booker notified 32 developers that Newark intends to reclaim 250 lots that were sold at a discount because the purchasers had reneged on their obligations to build on them within 18 months. Using that as leverage, city officials are pressuring some of the developers to pay more now for the land.

Mr. James’s lawyer, Raymond Brown, did not return calls or respond to e-mail messages yesterday.

Contacted Wednesday, Mr. James’s son John said he thought it was best to let his father’s legal team make any public statements.

“We’ll just have to see what happens tomorrow,” he said. “Then the lawyers can do all the talking.”

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Corruption in Public Office Not New For Jersey
(AP) The indictment Thursday of Sharpe James, the former longtime Newark mayor and a current state senator, is the latest example of corruption in New Jersey. Here are a few other cases of high-profile officials disgraced in recent years:

State Sen. Wayne Bryant in March was indicted on federal corruption charges tied to a state medical school job that officials said paid him $35,000 for no work.

Former state Senate President John Lynch pleaded guilty in October 2006 to tax evasion and fraud.

Several officials in Monmouth County have pleaded guilty to corruption-related charges as part of a federal sting in 2005.

Longtime Hudson County Executive, Robert C. Janiszewski, a Democrat, is serving a 41-month federal term after admitting he took more than $100,000 in bribes.

Nidia Davila Colon, a Hudson County freeholder, received a 2 1/2-year prison term for passing bribes to Janiszewski to help her then-boyfriend win county contracts.

Former Hoboken Mayor Anthony J. Russo was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after admitting taking bribes from an accountant and towing contractor.

Former Paterson Mayor Martin G. Barnes pleaded guilty in July 2003 of taking $200,000 worth of bribes from contractors doing business with the city.

Former Camden Mayor Milton Milan was convicted in 2000 of taking payoffs from the mob, laundering drug money and stealing campaign funds.