The Soprano State, Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure

For those of you who have read the book, here is an update of the wacky things still happening in The Soprano State so you can follow the ongoing saga and the outrageous behavior of the characters you met. For those of you who have not read the book, this is a taste of just how bad things are in New Jersey and a hint of why you will want to read it all in The Soprano State.

Like coauthor Bob Ingle said in his Politics Patrol blog, there is always a Jersey connection. On page 215 of The Soprano State’s paperback (page 213 of the hardback), you will find Sonia Sotomayor, President Obama’s pick for the U.S. Supreme Court. That’s because she was the federal judge who sentenced Joe Salema, Gov. Jim Florio’s chief of staff, to six months in a halfway house. Salema pleaded guilty to securities fraud and paid $324,000 to settle federal Securities and Exchange Commission charges. In August 1995, The Trentonian reported that Salema could have spent up to 10 years behind bars. Instead he got the stint in the halfway house, six moths of home detention, a $10,000 fine and 1,400 hours of community service. Conservatives are looking at the sentence with critical eyes. New Jersey residents may do the same. Citizens of The Soprano State saw far stiffer federal sentences for politicians gone wrong during the tenure of former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, now the GOP candidate for governor.
Bob Ingle, Gannett State Bureau, May 27, 2009
Chip Scutari, Trentonian, August 15, 1995

A federal grand jury indicted Assemblyman and former Perth Amboy Mayor Joe Vas and charged him with misusing his office for personal financial gain. The indictment accuses Vas of selling an apartment building for a $290,000 profit and then using his influence to assure that the contractor who purchased the building received federal funds for renovations. “This is yet another unfortunate example of a culture of corruption where a person in a position of trust acts with a sense of entitlement,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun. Vas also is charged with using $75,000 of the profit from the apartment sale to fund a 2006 Primary bid for a congressional seat. The federal indictment follows an earlier indictment of Vas by a state grand jury. The state charged him with stealing money from the city’s recreation funds.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, May 20, 2009

The feds arrested Paul Bergrin, the lawyer who represented Angelo Prisco in a New York conspiracy case, and charged him with racketeering conspiracy, including the murder of a federal witness. After a meeting with Bergrin, one of those attending the meeting shot the informant three times in the head, the feds said. Bergrin also was charged with trying to hire a hit man from Chicago to kill a witness in a Monmouth County drug case. The problem for Bergrin was that the hit man was cooperating with the feds. Bergrin is a former Essex County assistant prosecutor and a former assistant U.S attorney.
Acting U.S. attorney Ralph Marra, May 20, 2009

Now this one is crazy, even for The Soprano State. The state has spent more than $400,000 since 2003 on a program to teach New Jersey students how to grow food in space. The nonprofit organization that got the money was called E3CO. Each year, $60,000 went to an executive director, who died in 2007. Another $33,388, went to Sara Crane, the ex-wife of Joe Salema, who served as chief of staff to Gov. Jim Florio. Salema pleaded guilty in 1995 to securities fraud stemming from kickbacks in a Camden County bond deal. The funding for E3C0 was attached to the Rutgers University budget. Our hats are off to Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin for uncovering this one.
Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin, The Star-Ledger, May 11, 2009

A federal judge sentenced former school Superintendent Robert Walsh to a year in federal prison for embezzling more than $90,000 from the Delaware Valley Regional High School in Hunterdon County. Where did Walsh get the money? “The conduct of this defendant is hard to fathom,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra. “Here we had a well-paid high school superintendent who could have continued to command the respect and attention of his students, the community and the school board. Yet he threw that all away for what was literally the lunch money he stole from the cafeteria.” Walsh pleaded guilty in January 2009.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, May 8, 2009

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey spends $1 million on cellphones each year. How can that be? An internal audit obtained by The Star-Ledger shows that UMDNJ paid for the cellphones of people no longer working there, funded fancy options like picture messaging and did not track the personal calls made by employees. The audit showed 30 phones, assigned to people no longer working for the university, were billed to UMDNJ. Toping that number, 181 pagers were still assigned to those who had departed. Only in The Soprano State.
Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin, The Star-Ledger, May 3, 2009

Angelo Prisco, the mob capo who got out of jail early in New Jersey, has been convicted of conspiring to commit murder in New York. At 69, Prisco faces between 15 years and life in prison for the 1992 murder. According to the jury, mob boss Vincent “the chin” Gigante ordered Prisco to kill Angelo Sangiuolo, who was suspected of stealing from the mob. Here is what the feds said happened: Prisco in turn told two members of his crew to do the job. After Prisco ordered Sangiuolo into a van, John “Johnny Balls” Leto shot him. The van was then deposited at a McDonalds’s where Prisco picked up Leto and went with him to dispose of the gun. The killing of Sangiuolo occurred a decade before Prisco’s early release from a New Jersey jail where he was serving time for arson for hire. After his release in 2002, which a whistleblower said was prompted by a call from the governor’s office, Prisco went back to running his mob crew, according the State Commission of Investigation. Between 2003 and 2005, the feds said Prisco’s crew tied up and beat victims in home robberies that netted cash for the capo.
Mike Frassinelli, Star-Ledger, April 28, 2009
Thomas Zambito, New York Daily News, April 28, 2009

The feds landed another big fish when a jury convicted former state Sen. Joe Coniglio of extortion. The 66-year-old senator and plumber (only in New Jersey) was collecting $5,000 a month in consulting fees (a total of more than $100,000) from Hackensack University Medical Center. What the medical center got in return was the support of Coniglio, a member of the Senate budget committee, for state funding netting the center millions of dollars. Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra called Coniglio a member of a special class of crooked politicians who are champions of graft. Coniglio is the third former budget committee member convicted of corruption. He follows former senators Wayne Bryant and Sharpe James
Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, April 17, 2009
Kevin Penton, Asbury Park Press, April 18, 2009

An audit of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s Board of Concerned Citizens said that the board spent more than $42,000 for things outside the scope of its bylaws. The audit also said the board averaged a deficit of $10,000 over the past three years. What caused the deficit? Spending on catering, cellphones, flowers, gift baskets and award plaques. The board was created nearly 40 years ago to help Newark accept the university. But, as we have seen before at UMDNJ, things have gone awry. Mary Mathis-Ford, board chairwoman, said the board has not violated policies. She added that in 2007 she gave up a university funded car service that had transported her back and forth from her home in the Poconos to the Newark university, a 140-mile round trip. Once again, only in New Jersey.
Ralph R. Ortega, Star-Ledger, April 5, 2009

Apparently Gov. Corzine didn’t learn anything when pigs flew over the
statehouse. In his 2009 budget speech, Corzine proposed eliminating property tax deductions when residents (except seniors and the disabled) file their state income tax. (Later he changed it to apply only to households with incomes of more than $150,000.) And his budget called for eliminating property tax rebates for households earning more than $75,000. The Jersey Guys on NJ 101.5 declared the middle class in NJ DOA with Corzine’s budget. The radio talk show hosts collected empty wallets in two caskets at rest stops along the Garden State Parkway and the New Jersey Turnpike. Protesters joined as Ray Rossi and Casey Bartholomew led a mock funeral for the middle class on the statehouse steps. Security being what it is these days, the coffins couldn’t enter the statehouse. The contents were put in boxes for delivery to the gov.
Michael Symons, Gannett NJ, April 1, 2009

It never seems to end with corruption at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Frank X. Watts, former director of the physical plant at UMDNJ, has been indicted on bribery charges. The state grand jury indictment charged Watts with accepting gifts -- a deck for his home, a furnished sun room, a Cadillac Deville and a cellphone -- from a contractor in exchange for steering millions of dollars of work to that contractor. Watts frequently ignored the rules for awarding public contracts, according to state Attorney General Anne Milgram. “This type of corrupt pursuit of self interest on the part of officials is what erodes public confidence in state agencies,” Milgram said.
State Attorney General Anne Milgram, March 31, 2009

A senior investigator for the New Jersey Department of Labor pleaded guilty in federal court to accepting $1.86 million in bribes from temporary employment agencies. In return for the bribes, Joseph Rivera admitted that without doing inspections, he certified the firms were in compliance with state wage rules. Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra said Rivera was “driven by pure greed.” As part of his plea, Rivera forfeited the trappings of corruption -- $120,400 in cash, two Ocean City homes, a Florida home and a Lexus.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, March 30, 2009

The state Senate gave Gov. Corzine what he wanted, another six year term for Jeanne Fox as president of the state Board of Public Utilities. Democrats fell in line. The Senate vote was 23-13. The Senate Judiciary Committee vote was seven Democrats to four Republicans. Democrats praised the renewable energy initiatives of Fox, who is the wife of Corzine’s campaign advisor. But the victory could be costly in an election year. State Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, called Fox the “poster child for government waste, fraud and abuse.” Coauthor Bob Ingle said, “This sorry mess has all the elements that help NJ stay at the top of the national heap when it comes to corruption, cronyism and wasted money.” Fox was reappointed despite having opened an $83 million bank account outside the state Treasury system. An audit showed the account kept poor records and handed out money to former BPU employees for clean energy programs. Another audit showed the BPU hired a former BPU executive director for big consulting bucks to evaluate grants when the agency could have used its own staff. An audit also found BPU had no records of $2.7 million worth of grants given out in 2003. Joe Potena, the man who blew the whistle on the unauthorized bank account, lost his whistleblower lawsuit, but is appealing. The state spent $2.6 million on private lawyers to defend the case. And then there is the globe trotting that BPU board members said they did to help those paying New Jersey’s utility bills. It’s the stuff those creating political ads dream of.
Bob Ingle, Gannett NJ, March 9, 2009.
Michael Symons, Gannett NJ, March 16, 2009

State Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that a state grand jury indicted Assemblyman and former mayor Joe Vas and charged him with stealing $5,000 from Perth Amboy recreation funds and with rigging a lottery for low-income housing. If Vas is convicted, New Jersey may be the only state where a public official robbed the rec department for a pair of sneakers and for food for his father’s funeral. As we say in The Soprano State, you can’t make this stuff up. If you live somewhere else, it makes you laugh. If you live in New Jersey, there is a serious side to it all. Vas is charged with rigging the housing lottery so that his driver could get a cheap house. “By rigging a housing lottery, he rewarded his personal driver at the expense of the city, denying deserving families who might have been able to purchase this two-family home,” Milgram said. “Public officials are elected to serve the public, not exploit their positions for private gain.” Taxpayers should be angry enough to send that message to Trenton.
Anne Milgram, NJ attorney general, March 11, 2009

The New Jersey Supreme Court will not touch the issue of 800 pages of e-mails between Gov. Corzine and his ex-girlfriend and union official Carla Katz. The e-mails were exchanged during contract negotiations between the state and her union, the Communications Workers of America, representing state workers. Both Katz and Corzine say they were counseled not to engage in “back channel” conversations during the negotiations, and did anyway. But Corzine still managed to cry executive privilege and keep the e-mails secret. For a bit, it appeared that New Jersey’s citizens had won. A lower court judge, Paul Innes, looked at the e-mails and said, yep, in this country, the citizens have the right to see them. Innes said that the Corzine-Katz relationship had “created a clear potential for conflict” and the public had the right to decide for itself. But then Corzine went to an appellate court which said governors can keep things secret. The appellate court, among other things, relied on the old executive privilege ruling way back when Nixon was president. You would think that a Democratic governor would want no part of relying on the GOP’s Tricky Dick for a secrecy ruling. It’s no surprise that the top court judges, all appointed by New Jersey governors, allowed the appellate court decision to stand. What’s still a wonder is how Corzine did any work other than e-mailing, what with the 800-page volume. While Corzine appears to have won, it’s the citizen-voters who will have the final say on this and other issues when they go to the ballot box and vote for governor this November. Corzine will likely face former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie. Here is the kicker: New Jersey’s two Democratic U.S. Senators want to see Katz’s lawyer in the e-mail case, Paul Fishman, replace Christie as U.S. attorney.
Bob Ingle, Gannett NJ, March 18, 2009
Superior Court Appellate Division, Jan. 12, 2009<

Superior Court Judge Andrew Smithson dismissed the whistle-blower lawsuit filed against the Board of Public Utilities by Joe Potena. The state spent more than $2.6 million for private lawyers to defend the BPU. A jury in the fall of ‘08 said Potena had blown the whistle on BPU officials, but was not sure if retaliation resulted. Potena wanted a new trial. The state wanted the lawsuit tossed, and Smithson sided with the state. Smithson said he saw no evidence of retaliation. Potena said the judge fell asleep twice during the trial. This is not the first time Smithson has been involved in a high-profile, politically sensitive case. He directed a verdict of acquittal before the jury ever got the case against Sports Authority Chairman Michael Francis, who was charged with trying to hide alleged ties to the mob and with allegedly trying to use his state position to get business for his private firm. In the Francis case, Smithson cited improper conduct by state investigators. It should be noted that the Potena case turned out very differently from the whistleblower case of Ken Connolly. Connolly was the whistleblower in the early release of mob capo Angelo Prisco. With Superior Court Judge Bill Mathesius on the bench, the case never went to trial. The state settled for $480,000. The outspoken Mathesius was not reappointed to the bench by Gov. Corzine. We leave you to figure it all out.
Michael Symons, Gannett State Bureau, Jan. 24, 2009
New York Times, Jan. 21, 2000

Mims Hackett Jr., former mayor and former state lawmaker, was sentenced to five years in prison for submitting $5,000 in bogus expense vouchers to the city of Orange. Hackett will serve the sentence at the same time he serves a nine month federal prison sentence for bribery. Hackett admitted accepting $5,000 for helping an insurance company get business with the city. The problem for Hackett was that the insurance agent was an undercover man for the feds.
Sue Epstein, Star-Ledger, Jan. 23, 2009

George Anastasia of the Philadelphia Inquirer labeled Michael Coppola the quintessential New Jersey gangster. A murder suspect on the lam for 10 years, Coppola continued to run a mob crew for the Genovese crime family, according to the feds. Coppola’s crew controlled the Newark, NJ, port and was the Genovese family’s contribution to the corruption of the International Longshoremen’s Association, according to the feds.
George Anastasia, Inquirer, Dec. 22, 2008

Angelo Prisco, the New Jersey mobster best know for getting out of New Jersey state prison early during the McGreevey administration, has been charged with murder. The U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York charged Prisco with a litany of crimes as head of a Genovese crime family crew, including the June 3, 1992 murder of Angelo Sangiuolo. Murder is the newest addition to a September 2008 racketeering indictment that accused Prisco of robbery, extortion, firearms crimes and operating an illegal gambling business. The Soprano State tells the details of Prisco’s early release by the New Jersey Parole Board. Parole Board events took a tragic twist in September: state police said one of the Parole Board members handling the Prisco case, Peter James Van Etten, jumped to his death from a overpass onto the Garden State Parkway. He was struck by a bus and died at the scene. Van Etten was one of two parole board members who approved Prisco’s parole in 2002.
U.S. Attorney Lev Dassin, Dec. 17, 2008

The indictment of former Assemblyman Neil Cohen on official misconduct and child pornography charges puts another black mark on New Jersey. State Attorney General Anne Milgram charged Cohen with using computer equipment in his legislative office to view and print copies of child pornography.
Attorney General Anne Milgram, Dec. 17, 2008

Former assemblyman and preacher Alfred Steele, of Paterson, was sentenced to 15 months in federal prison for accepting a $15,500 bribe in exchange for helping an insurance company get government business. The company was a front for the feds. A Baptist minister, Steele was caught in a federal sweep that charged 11 local and state officials with bribery.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra, Dec. 15, 2008

To fully appreciate what John Adler meant to powerful state Democrats, you need to read The Soprano State. Needless to say, NJ Democrats will miss him as head of the all-powerful Senate Judiciary Committee. He heads off to Washington on Jan. 6 to replace retiring U.S. Rep. Jim Saxton. Adler will be the first Democrat to represent Ocean County in the U.S. House of Representatives in more than 30 years.
Asbury Park Press, Nov. 5, 2008

Chris Christie left his post as U.S. Attorney Dec. 1. In a review of his seven-year tenure, Christie said, “A new level of attention was brought to the scourge of political corruption in this state, and we are proud of the results.” As well he should be. As he pointed out, there were more than 130 convictions of elected and appointed political officials during those seven years --- without an acquittal. To be sure, Christie led those convictions, but he was right to tip his hat to the federal lawyers and the FBI who did the tough leg work. The state’s new U.S. attorney will have big shoes to fill. We hope he or she is up to the task because as much as Christie has done, there is much more to do in rooting out corruption in The Soprano State.
Chris Christie, Nov. 17, 2008 release on Dec. 1 resignation.

After only 14 hours of deliberation, a jury of six women and six men found former Sen. Wayne Bryant guilty on all corruption charges. The jury ruled that Bryant’s low-show job at the School of Osteopathic Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey was a bribe in exchange for Bryant using his Senate budget post to bring millions of dollars in additional funding to the school. The jury also found that Bryant used his UMDNJ job and two other public posts (at the Gloucester County Board of Social Services and Rutgers University Camden where he also did little or no meaningful work) to pad his government pension. R. Michael Gallagher, former dean at the School of Osteopathic Medicine, was convicted of rigging the hiring process to create the job for Bryant at the school. Christie called Bryant’s conduct the “most disgusting” the federal prosecutor had seen in his seven-year tenure.
Chris Christie, Nov. 18, 2008
Susan K. Livio, The Star-Ledger, Nov. 19, 2008

Gov. Jon Corzine will not reappoint Superior Court Judge Bill Mathesius to the Mercer County bench. To appreciate that fully, you need to read The Soprano State. As we point out, unlike other judges who initiated tavern spats and stole watches, Mathesius – in addition to handling several politically sensitive cases – took controversial stands and spoke his mind.
Linda Stein, The Times of Trenton, Nov. 18, 2008

U.S. Attorney Chris Christie has indicted yet another Soprano State political boss. This time it was Bergen County Democratic Organization chairman Joe Ferriero, who was indicted along with the organization’s lawyer, Dennis Oury. The indictment charges the two with conspiring to defraud the borough of Bergenfield. The indictment accuses Ferriero and Oury of forming Governmental Grants Consulting, a company the feds said used Ferriero’s political clout to help municipalities obtain grant money. For Oury the feds said the problem is an undisclosed conflict of interest. When Bergenfield hired Governmental Grants Consulting, Oury was the municipality’s lawyer and failed to disclose his connection to the firm. After Ferriero wrote a letter to the state, the indictment charges that Bergenfield got $1.4 million in county and state grants, resulting in a $128,625 payment to Governmental Grants Consulting. Ferriero’s lawyer, Joseph Hayden Jr., said the feds have turned a valuable public service into a criminal charge.
Chris Christie, Sept. 9, 2008
Associated Press, Sept. 10, 2008

Richard Kaplan just can’t be left out of The Soprano State. Kaplan, a former New Brunswick city construction inspector and zoning officer, is serving a 30-month jail sentence after pleading guilty to taking more than $30,000 in bribes. Once he got to prison, the feds say he started looking for someone to kill his wife. Kaplan told an inmate and an undercover FBI agent that he was willing to pay $25,000 for someone to stage a car accident that would end his wife’s life. Kaplan went so far as to authorize his accountant to pay the first $2,000. Now Kaplan has pleaded guilty to using the U.S. mail to hire a hit man.
U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, Aug. 19, 2008

This is one of those Soprano State stories that reads like fiction. And taxpayers are the victims in the story. Taxpayers in some New Jersey school districts are paying for school officials to get Web degrees with little or no academic value. Then once the degrees are obtained, taxpayers are footing the bill for increased salaries based on those new degrees. Here’s the kicker: the state’s education department issued a report, but said it couldn’t cure the situation. One example: in Freehold a superintendent and two top administrators obtained degrees from Bryer State University, then got raises for their degrees. Alabama forced the school to leave its state, as did Idaho. According to Alan Guenther of the Asbury Park Press, the school is operating out of a P.O. box in LA. Once Senate President Dick Codey expressed outrage, the state said it would make some rules.
Alan Guenther, Asbury Park Press, Aug. 17, 2008

Gov. Corzine just can’t seem to stay out of the Soprano State muck. When he signed a bill for a big new aquarium at Xanadu, a Meadowlands development project, he revealed that he had ties to the CEO of Dune Real Estate, one of the investors helping the troubled project. Corzine and Dune CEO Daniel Neidich are close friends, according to the gov. A two-man, NJ ethics panel cleared the governor of any conflict, but that doesn’t give taxpayers any comfort. And then there is Corzine’s former chief of economic development, Gary Rose, who helped with the Xanadu bail out. According to The Record, Rose had a financial interest in Dune and had stock in Goldman Sachs, which loaned the project money. Neidich, Corzine and Rose were formerly partners at Goldman Sachs.
Jeff Pillets and John Reitmeyer, The Record, Aug. 15, 2008

Federal Judge William Martini sentenced former Newark Mayor Sharpe James to 27 months in prison and gave his girlfriend Tamika Riley 15 months. U.S. Attorney Chris Christie wanted far more jail time for James and is looking to appeal the sentence. The married James, 72, and Riley, 39, said they were sorry. Sharpe was a New Jersey icon as a longtime state senator and mayor of the state’s largest city. Now he’s a corruption icon. Newark had a program that allowed qualified developers to buy discounted blighted land and rehab it. But the jury said James steered land to the unqualified Riley at cut-rate prices, and she resold it for a huge profit without the rehab. It’s once again the politically connected taking advantage of programs aimed at helping the state’s poorer cities.
Tom Baldwin, Asbury Park Press, July 30, 2008
U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, July 29, 2008

The EnCap saga continues with the feds alleging mob involvement in the project that was supposed to clean up Bergen County landfills. Court documents allege that a reputed Gambino associate, Gino Cracolici, who was tied to a company involved in the cleanup, made a deal to take payments of $40 per dump truck load to allow a firm unlimited access to the landfill project. The glitch was that the firm’s executive was working with the feds.
Jeff Whelan and Maura McDermott, The Star-Ledger, July 11, 2008

The Communications Workers Of America booted Carla Katz, Gov. Corzine’s former gal pal, from her post as president of Local 1034. The union is accusing Katz of misappropriating union money by using dues for travel. Katz called the allegations false. Meanwhile, everyone is awaiting the public release of e-mails between Katz and Corzine. A judge has said some are public record. But the Gov has decided to appeal the decision. Wonder why?
Gregory J. Volpe, Asbury Park Press, July 8, 2008

U.S. District Judge Jerome Simandle sentenced former Marlboro Mayor Matthew Scannapieco to 21 months in prison for accepting $245,000 in bribes from developer Anthony Spalliero. Simandle also fined the former mayor $100,000.
U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, June 20, 2008

U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson denied a motion to dismiss the indictment of former state Senator Wayne Bryant. The judge kept the allegations that Bryant used his power as a senator to gain funding for the University of Medicine and Dentistry in exchange for a university position. Wolfson struck down a charge that Bryant had a “no work” job at Rutgers University. Why? Wolfson said there was no standard that could be used to judge Bryant’s work.
Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin, The Star-Ledger, June 7, 2008

You remember the case where Mark Halper, a farmer, went undercover for the feds and caught public officials – including former Gov. Jim McGreevey – saying the code word “Machiavelli.” What the word meant was that public officials would hold up their end of the deal for Halper to pay bribes to get a decent price for his farm, which township officials wanted to condemn. Democratic fund-raiser David D’Amiano went to jail for his role in the extortion plot. McGreevey, who said he used the word inadvertently, was not charged. Now a state appeals court has upheld a $17.9 million jury verdict for the Halper family. Government officials only wanted to pay $4.3 million.
Ken Serrano, Home News Tribune, May 14, 2008

The former director of New Brunswick’s Neighborhood Preservation Program has pleaded guilty to extortion and tax evasion. William Walker was supposed to be fairly doling out contracts for the improvement of substandard homes for qualified low and moderate income families.
Instead, he admitted taking more than $112,500 in bribes and free home renovations in exchange for giving those contracts to two companies willing to line Walker’s pockets with federal money.
U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, April 30, 2008

After six days of deliberation, a jury of six women and six men -- hailing from six counties and including school teachers, a computer programmer and a postal worker -- used common sense, not secret recordings or a dramatic star witness, to say this to former Newark Mayor Sharpe James: even in New Jersey you can't steer city land worth $46,000 to your mistress so she can resell it for more than $600,000. James and Tamika Riley were convicted of fraud and conspiracy. U.S. Attorney Chris Christie summed it up well: "What everyone should now recognize is that 12 ordinary citizens from New Jersey heard the evidence and independently found what we've said all along -- that Sharpe James is guilty of stealing from Newark and its citizens and of using Newark resources for his personal benefit."
Jeff Whelan and John P. Martin, The Star-Ledger, April 17, 2008
U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie, April 16, 2008

Just when you thought the McGreeveys could find nothing more outrageous to do to New Jersey’s reputation, this hits the news. A former McGreevey aide, Teddy Pedersen, tells several newspapers that he and the McGreeveys were a sexual threesome. The Friday night events lasted for two years, Pedersen said. McGreevey said it’s true. Dina denied it ever happened. The divorce battle and the embarrassment for New Jersey goes on.
Associated Press, March 18, 2008

Superior Court Judge Linda Feinberg booted Joseph Santiago out of his job as Trenton’s police director. The city has a residency rule, and Santiago, who said he needed to be home to protect his family from nasty telephone calls and e-mails, has been living in Morris County, 50 miles from Trenton. But Feinberg said a waiver the mayor gave Santiago was no good. The controversy could continue if Santiago appeals.
L.A. Parker, The Trentonian, March 18, 2008

State Inspector General Mary Jane Cooper labeled EnCap – the company hired for a $200 million cleanup of Bergen County landfills – grossly underqualified and said the company misled officials about its ability to do the work. The result? The landfills are more, not less, polluted. Cooper forwarded the results of her year-long probe of EnCap -- whose parent is the politically influential Cherokee Investment Partners -- to the state Attorney General. Will that help? Well, this is New Jersey.
John Brennan and Jeff Pillets, The Record, Feb. 28, 2008

Hold onto your blood pressure. This one is bad even by New Jersey standards. Gov. Jon Corzine nominated Jeanne Fox, president of the state Board of Public Utilities, for another six-year term. The appointment comes even as a whistleblower lawsuit over an $80 million BPU bank account – opened at a private bank outside of state Treasury’s oversight – heads to trial.
Gregory J. Volpe, Asbury Park Press, Feb. 28, 2008

Two cardiologists pleaded guilty to accepting $840,000 for no-work jobs at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. The only thing the two did for the money was refer patients to the university’s cardiac unit. The scam was conjured up after the university failed to do enough cardiac procedures to keep its state funding and accreditation. Pleading guilty were Dr. Bakul Desai and Dr. Laxmipathi Garipalli.
U.S. Attorney’s Office, press release, Feb. 28, 2008

The state’s cost for private lawyers defending a whistleblower lawsuit against the Board of Public Utilities reached nearly $1.1 million before the trial ever began.
Gregory J. Volpe, Asbury Park Press, Feb. 16, 2008

Taxpayers chanted, “We’re not going to take it!” while scores of pink pig balloons rose in the sky above the statehouse dome. It was another only-in-New-Jersey moment. Reminiscent of the 1990 anti-tax protests aimed at Gov. Jim Florio, more than 700 taxpayers rallied against Gov. Jon Corzine’s proposal to hike road tolls. Corzine laid the groundwork for the pink pig protest, sponsored by New Jersey 101.5 FM, by declaring in his State of the State speech that “pigs would fly over the statehouse” before spending cuts and tax increases cured the state's fiscal problem. A sign in the crowd had this to say to the governor: “Duh – Cut Spending, Governor Financial Genius.”
Tom Baldwin, Asbury Park Press, Feb. 9, 2008

A judge sentenced Lesly Devereaux, former chief of staff at the state commerce commission, to six and a half years in prison for running her private law practice on state time, for falsifying documents that gave her family members state jobs and for welfare fraud. But since this is New Jersey, Superior Court Judge Maryann Bielamowicz ruled that after only six months – not years – Devereaux would be eligible to live at home under “intensive supervision.”
Michael Rispoli, Asbury Park Press, Jan. 15, 2008

After a truck loaded with bricks slammed into the rear of a car on the New Jersey Turnpike and caused a chain-reaction crash that killed four people, including a toddler, the families of the deceased were sued by the turnpike authority for damage to the highway. The move horrified both the families and the public. A turnpike spokesman called it a “stupid mistake,” and the suit was withdrawn.
Tom Feeney, Star-Ledger, Dec. 18, 2007

As if billing Newark for thousands of dollars in travel wasn’t enough, prosecutors said former Newark Mayor Sharpe James also billed the city for pornographic movies and body lotions while in Miami. James’ lawyer said, “What the heck does it matter if he watched an adult movie?” As we say in The Soprano State, only in New Jersey.
Jeff Whelan, Star-Ledger, Dec. 14, 2007

Federal monitoring of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey ended Dec. 31. U.S. Attorney Chris Christie said law-breaking has ended “at this time.” As for ethics, that “still needs substantial improvement.” The cost of the monitoring, $8.5 million.
Tom Baldwin, Asbury Park Press, Dec. 14, 2007

Joe Doria was back in the news when his state Department of Community Affairs gave all but $1.07 million of $16.3 million in special aid to municipalities in Democratic-controlled districts. Bayonne, where he served as mayor, got $1.3 million. DCA said politics played no role.
Tom Hester, Star-Ledger, Dec. 12, 2007

Flashy real estate broker Anthony Spalliero pleaded guilty to paying former Marlboro Township Mayor Matthew V. Scannapieco $100,000 in bribes for zoning approvals for home building. “With large sums of bribe money, Spalliero bought the votes and influence of the mayor on critical development projects that changed the landscape of one of the state’s fastest growing municipalities,” said U.S. Attorney Chris Christie.
Bob Cullinane, Asbury Park Press, Dec. 6, 2007

Former attorney general Zulima Farber, who lost her job after she rushed to the scene of a traffic stop involving her boyfriend -- the one driving without a valid license or registration -- is back in the public’s business. She landed a job as special counsel to the public schools in Elizabeth, the city where she used her connections after the incident to get the boyfriend special service at Motor Vehicles.
Bob Ingle, Asbury Park Press, Dec. 2, 2007

The confirmation of New Jersey’s first comptroller in 60 years, Matthew Boxer, was held up after Boxer went mum on his role in getting Rocco Riccio, the brother of Gov. Corzine’s ex-girlfriend, off the state payroll. Riccio received $15,000 from Corzine and his personal business manager, some of it in $1,000 money orders.
Michael Rispoli, Jonathan Tamari, Asbury Park Press, Nov. 30, 2007

Larry Hazzard, the state’s internationally respected boxing commissioner, was fired by the attorney general after he complained about conditions that were putting the health of boxers at risk.
Tom Baldwin, Asbury Park Press, Nov. 27, 2007

A federal lawsuit accused Joe Doria, former Bayonne mayor and longtime lawmaker now running the state Department of Community Affairs (the agency that doles out grants) of firing parking authority workers who helped with at ticket fixing probe. The suit charged that when the two workers reported the misconduct to Doria, he told them to shut up.
Bob Ingle, bobingle.blogspot.com, Nov. 26, 2007

Gov. Corzine’s attempt to milk the state’s toll roads for revenue could result in tolls increasing by more than two-and-a-half times. Showing he has no regard for those who will pay the tolls, Corzine tried to keep a draft document about the plan – paid with $887,000 in taxpayer money – secret.
Larry Higgs, Asbury Park Press, Nov. 25, 2007

Karen Golding, the woman Gov. Corzine gave $5,000 for jail bail, pleaded guilty to stalking the state Democratic Party chairman’s girlfriend.
Associated Press, Nov. 16, 2007

Jim Treffinger, the former Essex County executive who served time for obstructing a federal probe and putting no-show employees on the payroll, joined Jim McGreevey in a quest for the ministry. Treffinger enrolled at Princeton Theological Seminary.
Diane C. Walsh, Star-Ledger, Nov. 9, 2007

Bernard Kerik was indicted on federal charges that he abused his position as New York police commissioner. Kerik’s downfall and failed nomination for homeland security secretary stem from his connections to two New Jersey brothers whose construction company has been linked to the mob.
William K. Rashbaum, Maria Newman, New York Times, Nov. 9, 2007

Former Atlantic City Mayor Robert Levy pleaded guilty to lying about being a Green Beret and using those lies to boost his veterans’ benefits.
Associated Press, Nov. 1, 2007

New Jersey prosecutors accused four Jersey City judges of fixing tickets not just for their friends but also for themselves.
Tom Baldwin, Asbury Park Press, Oct. 23, 2007

Nearly 2.5 million cubic yards of contaminated materials have been trucked to the EnCap golf resort and housing project in the Meadowlands as the state Department of Environmental Protect granted a series of breaks to the company, whose parent is the politically influential Cherokee Investment Partners.
Jeff Pillets, The Record, Oct. 21, 2007

Former assemblyman and preacher Alfred Steele, of Paterson, pleaded guilty to accepting a $15,500 bribe in exchange for helping an insurance company get government business. The problem for Steele: the company wasn’t real. It was a front for the feds. A Baptist minister, Steele was caught in a federal sweep that charged 11 local and state officials with bribery.
Jeremy W. Peters, New York Times, Oct. 20, 2007