The Soprano State, Bob Ingle and Sandy McClure

Update

2012

Federal Judge Jose Linares ruled that former Jersey City deputy mayor Leona Beldini, 76, who was convicted of bribery, must serve her three-year sentence. Linares checked with the prison system and determined that whatever health care Beldini, a former burlesque queen, needs, she can get in the slammer. The jury that convicted Beldini sat through a two-week trial and spent two days deliberating before convicting her. She appealed her conviction, and an appellate court said the appeal had no merit. Linares ruled the delay is nearly over for the woman who used to be known as Hope Diamond, Gem of the Exotics. He gave her until April 3 to get whatever healthcare she made need in the outside world. Beldini was rounded up and arrested with 43 others in the summer of 2009 in the wake of a corruption investigation by the feds. She was convicted of taking $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions in exchange for a promise to use her official influence to help the real estate development projects of a man who in reality was an undercover operative for the feds. The feds presented both video recordings of Beldini and the testimony of the operative, Solomon Dwek, at the trial.
Peggy McGlone, Star-Ledger, Jan. 6, 2012; U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, June 14, 2010

Former Toms River schools Superintendent Michael Ritacco pleaded guilty to taking between $1 million and $2 million in bribes in return for funneling insurance business to the district’s former insurance broker, Francis Gartland, who also pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme that was large even by New Jersey standards. Gartland’s plea came first, followed three days later by Ritacco’s. The two pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Gartland also admitted perjury. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said Ritacco’s conduct “strikes at the core of our trust in government and is intolerable.” Ritacco, Gartland and two others used middlemen, shell companies, sham consulting contracts and third-party payments to hide the bribes, Fishman said. Ritacco agreed to forfeit $1 million, a Mercedes and more than $8,000 found in his oceanfront home.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, April 5, 2012 and April 2, 2012; Asbury Park Press, April 5, 2012

More than a dozen Middlesex County townships have rules banning pay-to-play, meaning contractors cannot contribute to the campaign chests of the officials in townships where they have contracts. But according to an analysis by politickerNJ.com, the laws are being circumvented by contractors who donate to political action committees, which in turn fund the campaigns of the public officials handing out the contracts. PolitickerNJ.com points out that, ironically, these PACs have catchy “good government” names and are “circumventing the laws passed and signed by the very officials receiving donations.”
PolitickerNJ.com, April 5, 2012

The Delaware River Port Authority wasted not thousands, not hundreds of thousands, but millions of tollpayer dollars, New Jersey Comptroller Matthew Boxer reported. “In nearly every area we looked at, we found people who treated the DRPA like a personal ATM, from DRPA commissioners to private vendors to community organizations,” Boxer said. The Boxer investigation revealed that $1.5 million in commissions related to the placement of DRPA insurance policies was shared among disclosed and undisclosed insurance brokers under less than transparent dealings. The commissions were shared whether or not the brokers performed any corresponding services for the DRPA, Boxer said. South Jersey political boss George Norcross’ insurance agency was paid $410,000 of the fees. In addition, the vast majority of a fund that donated money to social and civic causes went to organizations linked to DRPA officials or to organizations that provided a benefit to officials in exchange for the contribution. The DRPA also ignored its own policies in the funding of $400 million in economic development projects, with the projects being championed by the agency’s commissioners or a state official. Handing out lifetime free E-ZPass transponders to retired commissioners, employees and others cost tollpayers $1 million. And DRPA employees were wrongfully reimbursed for expenses, including two employees who were reimbursed $2,000 for attending the Pennsylvania Society Weekend at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City.
Comptroller Matthew Boxer, March 29, 2012; John Barna, Gloucester County Times, March 30, 2012

In 2011, NJ Transit spent $4.1 million on payouts for unused sick and vacation time. Starting this year, payouts for sick leave were eliminated for new hires. But despite a modest scaling back on the practice, NJ Transit’s bill for the sick and vacation time payouts grew $3.67 million compared with 2010. Salary records obtained by the Asbury Park Press showed 736 employees cashed in $2.6 million in unused vacation time. The 10 workers with the highest vacation payouts were handed checks of $20,383 to $28,615. Employees cashed in $1.5 million in unused sick time. Twenty employees received the $15,000 limit for retirees for unused sick time.
Asbury Park Press, March 21, 2012

Former Guttenberg councilman and police officer Vincent Tabbachino has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for attempted extortion and bribery and money laundering. A jury convicted Tabbachino of offering and agreeing to give a corruption payment to Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, who was acquitted at trial. Tabbachino pleaded guilty to laundering money for Solomon Dwek, who cooperated with the feds in a wide-ranging corruption sting.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, February 24, 2012

A federal judge dismissed the bribery charges against former state assemblyman Lou Manzo of Jersey City. U.S. District Court Judge Jose Linares ruled that the bribery statute does not apply to candidates. Manzo had recently lost an election for mayor of Jersey City when he was arrested and charged with taking more than $20,000 in bribes from a federal informant posing as a developer seeking favors for his projects if Manzo was elected mayor.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, July 8, 2011; Michaelangelo Conte, Jersey Journal, Feb. 17, 2012

Lydell Sherrer, who was both an assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner at the Department of Corrections, pleaded guilty to extortion or trading jobs and promotions for bribes. Sheerer plead guilty to extorting money from a corrections employee who was about to get laid off. Sheerer agreed to find the employee a job with corrections or with a corrections subcontractor in exchange for $10,000. As part of the plea agreement, Sheerer admitted taking $69,000 in bribes from eight individuals. “Mr. Sherrer not only abused his public trust, he tried to enrich himself by taking advantage of subordinates who wanted only to keep their jobs,” said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman.
U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, January 31, 2012; Associated Press, February 1, 2012

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		Update 2012 Federal Judge Jose Linares ruled that former Jersey City deputy mayor Leona Beldini, 76, who was convicted of bribery, must serve her three-year sentence. Linares checked with the prison system and determined that whatever health care Beldini, a former burlesque queen, needs, she can get in the slammer. The jury that convicted Beldini sat through a two-week trial and spent two days deliberating before convicting her. She appealed her conviction, and an appellate court said the appeal had no merit. Linares ruled the delay is nearly over for the woman who used to be known as Hope Diamond, Gem of the Exotics. He gave her until April 3 to get whatever healthcare she made need in the outside world. Beldini was rounded up and arrested with 43 others in the summer of 2009 in the wake of a corruption investigation by the feds. She was convicted of taking $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions in exchange for a promise to use her official influence to help the real estate development projects of a man who in reality was an undercover operative for the feds. The feds presented both video recordings of Beldini and the testimony of the operative, Solomon Dwek, at the trial. Peggy McGlone, Star-Ledger, Jan. 6, 2012; U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, June 14, 2010 Former Toms River schools Superintendent Michael Ritacco pleaded guilty to taking between $1 million and $2 million in bribes in return for funneling insurance business to the district’s former insurance broker, Francis Gartland, who also pleaded guilty to a bribery scheme that was large even by New Jersey standards. Gartland’s plea came first, followed three days later by Ritacco’s. The two pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the IRS. Gartland also admitted perjury. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said Ritacco’s conduct “strikes at the core of our trust in government and is intolerable.” Ritacco, Gartland and two others used middlemen, shell companies, sham consulting contracts and third-party payments to hide the bribes, Fishman said. Ritacco agreed to forfeit $1 million, a Mercedes and more than $8,000 found in his oceanfront home. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, April 5, 2012 and April 2, 2012; Asbury Park Press, April 5, 2012 More than a dozen Middlesex County townships have rules banning pay-to-play, meaning contractors cannot contribute to the campaign chests of the officials in townships where they have contracts. But according to an analysis by politickerNJ.com, the laws are being circumvented by contractors who donate to political action committees, which in turn fund the campaigns of the public officials handing out the contracts. PolitickerNJ.com points out that, ironically, these PACs have catchy “good government” names and are “circumventing the laws passed and signed by the very officials receiving donations.” PolitickerNJ.com, April 5, 2012 The Delaware River Port Authority wasted not thousands, not hundreds of thousands, but millions of tollpayer dollars, New Jersey Comptroller Matthew Boxer reported. “In nearly every area we looked at, we found people who treated the DRPA like a personal ATM, from DRPA commissioners to private vendors to community organizations,” Boxer said. The Boxer investigation revealed that $1.5 million in commissions related to the placement of DRPA insurance policies was shared among disclosed and undisclosed insurance brokers under less than transparent dealings. The commissions were shared whether or not the brokers performed any corresponding services for the DRPA, Boxer said. South Jersey political boss George Norcross’ insurance agency was paid $410,000 of the fees. In addition, the vast majority of a fund that donated money to social and civic causes went to organizations linked to DRPA officials or to organizations that provided a benefit to officials in exchange for the contribution. The DRPA also ignored its own policies in the funding of $400 million in economic development projects, with the projects being championed by the agency’s commissioners or a state official. Handing out lifetime free E-ZPass transponders to retired commissioners, employees and others cost tollpayers $1 million. And DRPA employees were wrongfully reimbursed for expenses, including two employees who were reimbursed $2,000 for attending the Pennsylvania Society Weekend at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel in New York City. Comptroller Matthew Boxer, March 29, 2012; John Barna, Gloucester County Times, March 30, 2012 In 2011, NJ Transit spent $4.1 million on payouts for unused sick and vacation time. Starting this year, payouts for sick leave were eliminated for new hires. But despite a modest scaling back on the practice, NJ Transit’s bill for the sick and vacation time payouts grew $3.67 million compared with 2010. Salary records obtained by the Asbury Park Press showed 736 employees cashed in $2.6 million in unused vacation time. The 10 workers with the highest vacation payouts were handed checks of $20,383 to $28,615. Employees cashed in $1.5 million in unused sick time. Twenty employees received the $15,000 limit for retirees for unused sick time. Asbury Park Press, March 21, 2012 Former Guttenberg councilman and police officer Vincent Tabbachino has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for attempted extortion and bribery and money laundering. A jury convicted Tabbachino of offering and agreeing to give a corruption payment to Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez, who was acquitted at trial. Tabbachino pleaded guilty to laundering money for Solomon Dwek, who cooperated with the feds in a wide-ranging corruption sting. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, February 24, 2012 A federal judge dismissed the bribery charges against former state assemblyman Lou Manzo of Jersey City. U.S. District Court Judge Jose Linares ruled that the bribery statute does not apply to candidates. Manzo had recently lost an election for mayor of Jersey City when he was arrested and charged with taking more than $20,000 in bribes from a federal informant posing as a developer seeking favors for his projects if Manzo was elected mayor. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, July 8, 2011; Michaelangelo Conte, Jersey Journal, Feb. 17, 2012 Lydell Sherrer, who was both an assistant commissioner and deputy commissioner at the Department of Corrections, pleaded guilty to extortion or trading jobs and promotions for bribes. Sheerer plead guilty to extorting money from a corrections employee who was about to get laid off. Sheerer agreed to find the employee a job with corrections or with a corrections subcontractor in exchange for $10,000. As part of the plea agreement, Sheerer admitted taking $69,000 in bribes from eight individuals. “Mr. Sherrer not only abused his public trust, he tried to enrich himself by taking advantage of subordinates who wanted only to keep their jobs,” said U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, January 31, 2012; Associated Press, February 1, 2012 TOP