GOVERNMENT CONFLICTS, CORRUPTION AND INDICTMENTS

- NEW JERSEY -

Date	Individual / State Agency	Who, What, Where?
2003
02/22/03	Harrison Township	Eminent Domain Squabble Rowan University and Wal-Mart squabbled over 102 acres of land. Last fall, Rowan sued American Continental Properties to acquire the property via the state-granted power of eminent domain. The state's need for higher education, school officials said, was greater than the benefit of another big-box store. But Wal-Mart was triumphant. The decision was a victory for Wal-Mart and its developer, American Continental Properties, which has received approval to build a store at the intersection of Routes 322 and 55.
2004
01/06/04 04/15/04	Hudson County	Extortion Payoff to Assembly Speaker Lourdes Adan-Abreu, one of ten co-defendants and wife of indicted Hudson County businessman Rene Abreu, pleads guilty to defrauding the Internal Revenue Service. In opening arguments at the federal fraud and corruption trial of Hudson developer Rene Abreu, a federal prosecutor says the evidence includes a secret recording in which the developer and others discuss extortion payoffs from a gambling racket to Assembly Speaker Albio Sires after Sires became Mayor of West New York. Sires denies any wrongdoing.
01/06/04	East Orange Police Department	Detective Steals From Own Police Department Detective Norman Price, his wife, and a friend, has been charged with stealing by the police department. Detective Hand oversaw equipment purchases and created shell companies to provide equipment at grossly inflated prices. The Detective and his cohorts pocketed $106,000 out of the total of $198,000 in purchases.
01/09/04	Essex County	Treffinger Serving 13 Month Sentence Former Essex County Executive James Treffinger began serving a 13-month prison term after admitting that he used county funds to pay Republican campaign workers and by obstructing a federal probe into his campaign finances.
01/12/04	Hainesport	County Funds Used to Pay Republican Campaign Workers The Mayor of Hainesport, Ronald Corn, embezzled more than $339,000 from public accounts to pay for golf outings, parties, meals and expenses in cahoots with the township finance director, Kristine Wisnewski. Both agreed to leave office and make restitution to the city. On April 8, 2004, he was sentenced to five years in prison for diverting $339,000 to a secret "mayor's account.
01/16/04	Motor Vehicle Commission – Mount Holly and Springfield	Selling Driver’s Licenses An employee of the Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) pleads guilty to conspiring to unlawfully produce driver's licenses, admitting she received between $100 and $200 per bogus license. Linda Love and Sheilina D. Moore are among at least a dozen government employees at MVC offices in Mount Holly and Springfield who admit to federal charges related to separate investigations.
01/23/04	Burlington County Jail	Smuggling Contraband to Prisoners Corrections officers Vincenzo Perricone and James Dowd were indicted on charges of bribery, official misconduct and theft for allegedly smuggling contraband to prisoners in the Burlington County Jail in exchange for cash payments.
02/02/04	Newark Liberty International Airport	Newark International – Security – Hiring Criminals A state grand jury indicted John D'Agostino, president of Newark-based Haynes Security Inc., for bribery, theft and conspiracy for allegedly hiring criminals to guard Newark Liberty International Airport and other sites.
02/03/04 07/08/04	Asbury Park	Mayor Convicted of Filing False Tax Returns The former Mayor of Asbury Park, Kenneth "Butch" Saunders, pleaded guilty to filing false tax returns for 1997, 1999 and 2000. The plea comes six weeks after a federal jury convicts Saunders and an aide, Rayfield James, Jr., of conspiring to bribe a council member for her vote on the town's billion-dollar redevelopment plan. A federal judge sends former Asbury Park mayor "Butch" Saunders prison for 33 months for conspiring to bribe a council member.
02/10/04	Attorney General	Attorney General Fined for Accepting Gratuities The state ethics commission fined Attorney General Peter Harvey $1,500 for accepting free ringside seats from boxing promoters for his wife and two other guests. Harvey is the first attorney general sanctioned by the Executive Commission on Ethical Standards since it was created 31 years ago. He also is the first Cabinet official it has fined since 1997.
02/18/04	Gloucester County	Democratic Campaign Treasurer Conceals Source of Funds A Gloucester County judge finds West Deptford Democratic campaign treasurer Daniel Wilson guilty of concealing $100,000 in campaign contributions from JCA Associates, a Moorestown engineering firm that earned millions in town contracts. Three JCA executives had pleaded guilty to concealing the contributions.
02/18/04	New Hanover	Township Administrator Steers Contract to Relatives Former New Hanover Township Administrator James J. Nash is sentenced to three months in prison for participating in a scheme to steer a federally funded Board of Education contract to a relative of the town's former mayor.
03/02/04	Piscataway – Eminent Domain	Sopranos Episode in Piscataway David D’Amaino, a business and fundraiser for the disgraced ex-Governor James McGreevey, was charged with extortion when he offered to intercede with county officials for $40,000 to get a higher price for Mark Halper’s property. The scandal has all of the earmarks of a bloody Sopranos TV episode.
03/10/04	Division of Criminal Justice	State Worker Illegally Collects Unemployment Insurance The state Division of Criminal Justice charges state worker Yvette Wright with illegally collecting unemployment insurance benefits after an investigation determines she collected benefits while working as a clerk for the state.
03/11/04	Mercer County Executive's Office	Chief of Staff Helps Company Win Lucrative Contracts Harry G. Parkin, former chief of staff of the Mercer County Executive's Office, is indicted on charges he used his office to help a recycling company win county contracts. Federal prosecutors say Parkin had a secret financial stake in the company.
03/17/04	State Athletic Control Board	Board Chairman Gives Out Free Boxing Passes State Athletic Control Board Chairman Gerard Gormley agrees with the state ethics commission to resign and pay $14,000 in fines to settle charges he improperly gave out 227 free passes to professional boxing matches over two years.
03/19/04	Mercer County Prosecutor's Office	Insurance Adjuster Torches Claims Marc Rossi, an insurance adjuster who once worked as an investigator for the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office, is sentenced to eight years in prison for leading an arson-for-profit ring that netted more than $500,000. Rossi ran the scheme while he owned Rossi Adjustment Services, a Trenton-based insurance claims consulting firm.
03/22/04	Delaware River & Bay Authority	Executive Director Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges The former executive director of the Delaware River & Bay Authority pleads guilty to federal fraud charges. Michael E. Harkins admits billing tens of thousands of dollars in personal expenses - from private jets to limo rides - to the authority and then trying to cover up the expenses.
03/25/04	East Orange City Council	Council Chairman Solicits Bribes The FBI arrested East Orange City Council Chairman Zachary Turner and a friend, Barry Turner, on charges they conspired to solicit bribes. The councilman allegedly demanded $20,000 from one contractor seeking to resolve a property dispute with the city.
04/02/04	West Deptford	Treasurer Forced To Resign Daniel Wilson, the former treasurer of the West Deptford municipal election campaign committee, is ordered to resign and is banned from all future government employment during sentencing. Wilson also is sentenced to four years of probation and must pay a $2,500 fine.
04/19/04	Mercer County Improvement Authority	Conspiracy to Pad Bills A Trenton contractor pleads guilty to conspiring to defraud the Mercer County Improvement Authority. Michael Maurio admits he planned with owners of a demolition company to add $100,000 to the bill for projects they completed for the authority. Maurio's take was $26,000.
04/23/04	Newark Liberty International Airport	Customs Agent Takes Bribes A U.S. customs officer admits taking $4,000 in bribes from a federal immigration inspector who smuggled more than 100 Indian nationals into the country at Newark Airport. Terence Walden also agrees to testify against the inspector, Otis Rackley, if he goes to trial.
04/30/04 06/08/04	The Schools Construction Corp.	JCA Associates Banned From Future School Contracts JCA Associates, a politically connected South Jersey engineering firm that was implicated in a scheme to hide illegal campaign contributions, is barred from working on the state's school construction program for five years. The Schools Construction Corp. moved to prohibit the Moorestown company and five officers from participating in the $8.6 billion school construction program. The company already had been awarded five contracts worth $8.9 million. The president and two executives plead guilty to filing fraudulent tax returns to conceal illegal campaign contributions.
05/03/04	North Jersey School Construction project	Mob Boss Extorts School Funds Reputed Gambino crime-family associate James DiModica pleads guilty to charges he demanded cash payments from a Monmouth County construction firm so the company could do business on a North Jersey school construction project.
05/07/04	Greystone Psychiatric Hospital in Morris County	State Workers Illegally Collect Unemployment Insurance Two state employees are charged with illegally collecting thousands of dollars in unemployment insurance benefits. Patricia Mitchell, who worked at Greystone Psychiatric Hospital in Morris County, is accused of failing to report earnings to the Department of Labor while receiving $7,072 in unemployment benefits. Lashawn Peterson, while working at the New Jersey Department of Corrections as a communications operator, allegedly failed to report to his job while collecting $7,360 in benefits.
05/24/04	Jersey City	Detective Convicted of Taking Kickbacks Frank D'Agosta, a veteran Jersey City police detective, gets a 13-month prison term for taking kickbacks from a gambling ring in Hudson County.
06/04/04	State Commerce Commission	Vice-President Convicted of Hiring Family Members Lesly Devereaux, VP of the State Commerce Commission, leaves office while under investigation for hiring family members as consultants. Devereaux also served as chief of staff to Commerce Secretary William Watley, pastor of St. James AME Church in Newark.
06/14/04	North Bergen Township	Air Conditioning Installer Convicted of Bribing Officials Leonard Farinola, a heating and air-conditioning installer who became an FBI cooperating witness, gets three months in prison for bribing officials in North Bergen Township. Farinola faced more than two years in jail, but won leniency after secretly recording 60 conversations with public officials that helped put three in jail.
06/15/04	Essex County	Newark Security Companies and Police Agencies Conspire State authorities raid two Newark hotels and the home of an Essex County sheriff's officer as part of an investigation into Joseph G. Marini's unlicensed security firm. The probe of All Phase is part of a wider inquiry into the business practices of Newark-area security companies and their connections to local police agencies.
06/21/04	Irvington	Chief Financial Officer Files False Tax Returns The former acting chief financial officer and director of finance for Irvington is indicted on charges of filing false federal income tax returns for 1995 through 1998. The case against Earl Haugabrook grew out of the same investigation that led to the conviction of former mayor Sara Bost.
06/22/04	Hudson County	Developer Convicted of Payoffs Hudson County developer Joseph Barry pleads guilty to paying $114,900 to former County Executive Robert Janiszewski. Prosecutors call it a payoff, but Barry calls it a "reward" for Janiszewski's help getting government funding for Barry's signature project, the Shipyard in Hoboken.
06/23/04	West New York	Police Chief Paid In Gambling Kickbacks The former police chief of West New York testifies he paid $2,000 a week in gambling kickbacks to businessman Abreu, a key aide of Assembly Speaker Albio Sires in West New York. The chief, Alexander Oriente, recalls seeing Abreu scrawl words on a napkin to ask about kickbacks police had been collecting from prostitution and illegal gambling rackets. Oriente himself served a four-year prison term for racketeering.
06/24/04	Department of Human Services	State Employee Collects Unemployment Insurance Authorities charge a state employee with collecting more than $18,000 in unemployment insurance benefits. An indictment alleges John M. Andre collected benefits while working for the Department of Human Services.
06/24/04	Gloucester County	Probation Officer Writes Bad Checks/Threatens to Kill Witness A former Gloucester County probation officer, Rene Bradley-Williams, and her son are charged by state authorities with issuing more that $500,000 in bad checks to purchase luxury automobiles and threatening to kill a witness questioned by law enforcement investigators.
06/29/04	Hudson County	Freeholder Extorts County Psychiatrist Hudson County Freeholder William C. Braker, a veteran police officer, admits he extorted $3,000 from a psychiatrist who hoped to keep counseling contracts for the county prisons. Prosecutors claimed Braker also demanded Viagra from the doctor.
06/29/04	Long Branch – Eminent Domain	Eminent Domain Used to Increase Town’s Tax Base Hundreds of residents were forced to pack their belongings to make way for the private development of luxury homes and apartments under the powers of Eminent Domain, which of course the displaced residents could not afford. This new development provides a higher tax base for the city.
06/30/04	Newark Liberty International Airport	Immigration Inspector Smuggles Undocumented Immigrants Otis Rackley, the immigration inspector, admits smuggling scores of undocumented immigrants into the country at Newark Liberty International Airport, some just weeks after the 9/11 attacks. Rackley took $5,000 in cash to escort the travelers, mostly Indian nationals, past immigration checkpoints. In two years, he and conspirators raked in as much as $1 million.
07/13/04	James McGreevey - Governor	Developer Charged With Witness Intimidation Charles Kushner, developer, philanthropist and prominent donor for state Democrats and McGreevey, is charged with witness intimidation and other counts. The indictment says Kushner lured a cooperating FBI witness - his sister's husband - into a videotaped tryst with a prostitute, then later sent a tape of the encounter to his sister. The charges come 15 months after federal investigators opened an inquiry into Kushner's financial affairs and political contributions.
07/14/04	State Commerce Secretary	Secretary Resigns Over Ethics Allegations Stung by ethics allegations and with his agency under criminal investigation, State Commerce Secretary William Watley resigns. The announcement comes as investigators return to the Commerce and Economic Growth Commission to seize more hard drives as part of a widening corruption probe.
07/16/04	Burlington County Jail	Corrections Officers Smuggle Contraband to Prisoners One former corrections officer is sentenced to prison and another is given probation for smuggling contraband to prisoners in the Burlington County Jail. James H. Dowd is ordered to serve three years in state prison and ordered to pay $700 restitution. Vincenzo A. Perricone is sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay $200. Both are banned from any public employment.
07/16/04	U.S. Social Security Administration Office - Trenton	Employee Selling Genuine Social Security Cards An employee of the U.S. Social Security Administration Office in Trenton pleads guilty to participating in a scheme to sell genuine Social Security cards to illegal immigrants. Rebecca Rivera Asencio admits conspiring with two middlemen to sell cards for $1,500 or more.
07/19/04	Hudson County	Bagman Provides Bribes for County Contracts Paul Byrne, childhood pal and reputed bagman for former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski, admits passing bribes to Janiszewski from an accountant with county contracts. His plea ends a two-year string of graft investigations in the county that also toppled the once-powerful executive, two elected freeholders and two contractors.
07/29/04	Perth Amboy Housing Authority	Administrator Embezzles Federal Housing Subsidies A former assistant administrator with the Perth Amboy Housing Authority is arrested and charged with embezzling more than $400,000 in federal housing subsidies. Miladys Gomez was responsible for printing and issuing federal housing subsidy checks to landlords on behalf of Section 8 aid recipients.
07/30/04	Division of Taxation	Clerical Worker Steals From Division of Taxation A former clerical worker is sentenced to seven years in state prison for stealing more than $81,000 from the Division of Taxation. Michael A. Johnson also is permanently barred from holding future public employment.
08/04/04	Hudson County	Crook Extorts From Illegal Gambling Operations A federal jury convicts Rene Abreu of mortgage fraud but deadlocks on whether he used political ties to extort thousands of dollars from illegal gambling operators.
08/23/04	Newark	Rogue Cops Shake Down Drug Dealers and Prostitutes Authorities publicly acknowledge their investigation into allegations that rogue cops in Newark have been shaking down drug dealers and prostitutes, reselling confiscated drugs and selling guns. Officials say the joint state/city investigation has been ongoing since the spring.
09/08/04	Englewood	Englewood Officials Conspire to Create False Public Records Englewood's municipal court judge, police chief and a ranking police officer are indicted for allegedly conspiring to create false public records so a county prison inmate could be improperly released from custody to attend a funeral. A state grand jury indictment charges Judge Joseph M. Clark, Chief David Bowman and Sgt. Emma Jackson with tampering with public records or information and falsifying or tampering with records.
09/15/04	Motor Vehicle Commission – Newark	Worker Sells Genuine Identification Papers State police arrest a worker at the Newark motor vehicle office for helping an illegal immigrant get identification papers. Monica Hancock is charged with conspiracy, official misconduct and tampering with public records. The bust comes less than two years after state officials cracked down on corruption at the office by firing all 10 workers and replacing them with new employees.
09/24/04	Newark	Cop Shakes Down Drug Dealers Newark police officer Tyrone Dudley pleads guilty to charges he shook down drug dealers. The plea is part of a widening state investigation targeting corruption and other illegal activities by Newark police officers. As part of the guilty plea, Dudley forfeits his public position as a police officer and agrees to cooperate with the investigation.
09/24/04	Mercer County Improvement Authority	Executive Director Convicted of Kickbacks and Bribery The former executive director of the Mercer County Improvement Authority pleads guilty to kickback and bribery schemes. Among other things, James R. Lambert Sr. admits conspiring to pay an unnamed public official $150,000 for his vote on public contracts.
09/29/04	Newark	Cop Sells Cocaine Out of House Authorities charge Newark police officer Brandy Johnson with selling cocaine out of her Newark home.
09/29/04	Hoboken	Mayor Extorts Kickbacks From Accounting Firm Former Hoboken mayor Anthony Russo admits in federal court that he extorted thousands of dollars in kickbacks from an accounting firm working for the city. Under federal sentencing guidelines, Russo faces between 24 and 30 months in prison.
10/01/04	Newark	Cops Shake Down Drug Dealers Authorities charge two more Newark police officers, Darius Smith and Lawrence Furlow, with shaking down and stealing cash from drug dealers and planting drugs on innocent victims to cover their actions.
10/06/04	Newark	Newark PD Issues Call To Report Graft In the wake of corruption charges against several officers, the Newark Police Department issues a call for citizens to report graft by calling a toll-free hotline. Officials are inundated with calls.
10/21/04	Hudson County	Developer Payoff to County Executive Prominent developer Joseph Barry is sentenced to 25 months in prison for passing $115,000 in payoffs to Janiszewski. Under questioning from the judge, Barry says he didn't plan to bribe Janiszewski, but felt obliged after the executive helped him win federal and state grants. "He said he needed the money and I gave him the money."
10/26/04	Motor Vehicle Commission – Mercer County	Clerk Steals Customer Payments Former Motor Vehicle Commission (MVC) – clerk Jarmaine Ravenell pleads guilty to stealing more than $1,000 in customer payments while employed at the Bakers Basin facility in Mercer County. Ravenell is among 91 people, including 13 former MVC employees, prosecuted since late 2003 by the Division of Criminal Justice's MVC Document Fraud Initiative.
10/28/04	Hudson County	County official Sells Bogus Birth Certificates A former Hudson County official admits helping create bogus birth certificates for sale to illegal immigrants. Jean Anderson pleads guilty after a long-running probe by the FBI and U.S. State Department into a wave of fraudulent birth certificates issued in Hudson County.
10/29/04	Marlboro Township	Township Official Arrested on Bribery Charges FBI agents arrest a Marlboro Township official on bribery charges. Prosecutors say Richard Vuola offered about $150,000 in campaign funds to a Marlboro Township Council member for the official's vote on a development proposal.
11/19/04	Oceanport	Oceanport Man Indicted on FBI obstruction Charges An Oceanport man is accused of trying to blow the cover off an FBI corruption probe in Monmouth County. Agents arrest Frank Calandrino after he is indicted on obstruction charges. Prosecutors say Calandrino was working as an undercover FBI witness in May 2003 when he secretly tipped off the subject of a corruption probe to the fact that agents were recording their conversation.
11/19/04	Mercer County	Assemblyman Misappropriates Campaign Funds Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto pleads guilty to state charges of misappropriating and diverting thousands of dollars in campaign funds to pay personal expenses. He also agrees to resign.
11/22/04	Monmouth County	Probation Officer Collects Unemployment Benefits State authorities charge a Monmouth County probation officer with illegally collecting unemployment insurance benefits. Maxine Kantrowitzis is accused of filing for UI benefits despite working as an investigator for the Monmouth County Probation Office.
11/29/04	Irvington	Mayor Freed After Witness Tampering Sentence Former Irvington mayor Sara Bost is freed from prison after serving almost one year for witness tampering. Most of her term was spent at the women's federal prison camp in Alderson, W.Va., the same camp that welcomed Martha Stewart this year.
12/1/04	Maplewood – Eminent Domain	Eminent Domain Reversal The government proposed to oust five businesses and four private homes to make way for a new police station. The citizens rose up and forced the township committee to reverse the decision.
12/06/04