Tag:

Corruption

Jersey City Mayor Ditches Murphy, Endorses Kim In NJ Senate Race Jersey City Mayor Ditches Murphy, Endorses Kim In NJ Senate Race
Jersey City Mayor Ditches Murphy, Endorses Kim In NJ Senate Race Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop has seen enough from Tammy Murphy's Senate campaign. Fulop announced he is switching his endorsement to Rep. Andy Kim, saying he made a mistake in endorsing Murphy, the wife of Gov. Phil Murphy.  "Clearly I made one here and this convention season has demonstrated he is the better candidate to represent NJ," Fulop, who is running for governor in 2025 said. "The backbone of our party volunteers and activists have spoken loudly and we should listen to them." The Jersey City mayor initially endorsed Murphy last year, but said on Reporters Roundtable on Frid…
Correctional Officer Charged With Taking Bribes To Smuggle Drugs, Tobacco, More Into NJ Jail Correctional Officer Charged With Taking Bribes To Smuggle Drugs, Tobacco, More Into NJ Jail
Correctional Officer Charged With Taking Bribes To Smuggle Drugs, Tobacco, More Into NJ Jail A New Jersey correctional police officer pocketed thousands of dollars in bribes from inmates in exchange for smuggling drugs, tobacco and other contraband into the Mercer County jail, authorities charged. Tyree L. Hobbs, 39, of Hamilton, was on the take for nearly five years, beginning in 2017 -- less than a year after he joined the Mercer County Department of Corrections, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. And although he paid some inmates in cash, others paid the $300 to $2,500 fee per delivery through mobile apps, the attorney general said. A grand jury in Trenton ind…
Sen. Cory Booker Says Bob Menendez Should Resign Sen. Cory Booker Says Bob Menendez Should Resign
Sen. Cory Booker Says Bob Menendez Should Resign Senator Cory Booker has joined the chorus of New Jersey politicians calling for Sen. Bob Menendez's resignation after Menendez and his wife were indicted on federal bribery charges last week. Booker said the trust and faith New Jerseysians had in Menendez have been shaken in light of the recent indictments, which he called "shocking" and said were "hard to reconcile with the person I know." "Senator Menendez fiercely asserts his innocence and it is therefore understandable that he believes stepping down is patently unfair," Booker said. "I believe this is a mistake. "Stepping down is not a…
Essex Jail Officer, GF Stung By FBI In Scheme To Smuggle In Tobacco, Cell Phones: Feds Essex Jail Officer, GF Stung By FBI In Scheme To Smuggle In Tobacco, Cell Phones: Feds
Essex Jail Officer, GF Stung By FBI In Scheme To Smuggle In Tobacco, Cell Phones: Feds A corrections officer and his girlfriend were busted for smuggling tobacco and cellphones into the Essex County Jail from a source who turned out to be an undercover FBI agent, federal authorities said. Efrin Wade, 34, and Yairisa Lizardo, 29, both of Jersey City, accepted $14,000 for the illegal acts and apparently were counting on another $30,000 when they were busted, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip Sellinger said following their arrests on Tuesday, March 14. Wade, who’d worked as a corrections officer at the Essex County Correctional Facility (ECCF) in Newark since February 2020, be…
UPDATE: NJ Admits Errors, Clears Correctional Officer Over Motorcycle Gang Membership, Side Gig UPDATE: NJ Admits Errors, Clears Correctional Officer Over Motorcycle Gang Membership, Side Gig
Update: NJ Admits Errors, Clears Correctional Officer Over Motorcycle Gang Membership, Side Gig New Jersey authorities have dropped a case against a correctional police officer who'd been accused of hiding his membership in two outlaw motorcycle gangs. Ruben Morales, who worked at the state prison in Newark, had also been accused of hiding a food truck business he worked on the side. All of the accusations were recently nullified, however, with the dismissal of a state indictment that had been filed against him. Morales, a correctional officer for nearly 20 years, had publicly professed his innocence since the announcement of the indictment in early 2021. Things finally changed last…
NJ Jail Officer Admits Smuggling Drugs In Potato Chip Bags: Prosecutor NJ Jail Officer Admits Smuggling Drugs In Potato Chip Bags: Prosecutor
NJ Jail Officer Admits Smuggling Drugs In Potato Chip Bags: Prosecutor A Monmouth County Correctional Institution Officer admitted distributing drugs to inmates within the jail, authorities said. The drugs were smuggled in using potato chip bags, according to Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago. Bryant Mack, 54, of Shamong, pleaded guilty on Friday, Nov. 18, to conspiracy to distribute a controlled dangerous substance, Santiago said. His plea agreement requires him to forfeit his job at MCCI and prohibits him from holding public office again in the State of New Jersey. A cooperative investigation by the Monmouth Cou…
Cash-For-Kids Ex-Judges Fined $200 Million In Pennsylvania: AP Cash-For-Kids Ex-Judges Fined $200 Million In Pennsylvania: AP
Cash-For-Kids Ex-Judges Fined $200 Million In Pennsylvania: AP A Harrisburg, PA judge has ordered two former judges to pay $200 million to the families of children sent to prison as part of their kickback scheme, the Associated Press reports.   Mark Ciavarella and Michael Conahan, both former judges in the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas, were found guilty in 2009 for charges in connection with a scheme that involved them using their positions to shutter county-run juvenile detention center, siphoning children from the juvenile court to PA Child Care and its sister facility, Western PA Child Care, according to court records.  Childr…
Brick City Bribery: Newark Councilman Admits Taking Kickbacks Brick City Bribery: Newark Councilman Admits Taking Kickbacks
Brick City Bribery: Newark Councilman Admits Taking Kickbacks A sitting Newark councilman admitted pocketing payoffs in exchange for influence, federal authorities said. West Ward Councilman Joseph A. McCallum Jr., 66, schemed to receive under-the-table bribes and kickbacks from consultant Malik Frederick, an FBI complaint on file in U.S. District Court in Newark says. The kickbacks were "funded by developers, contracting companies, and other businesses seeking contracts and approvals principally related to development, construction, and real estate projects and deals in Newark,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. Frederick solicited the de…
ONLY IN JERSEY: Convicted Mayor Busted For Illegally Trying To Run Again ONLY IN JERSEY: Convicted Mayor Busted For Illegally Trying To Run Again
Only IN Jersey: Convicted Mayor Busted For Illegally Trying To Run Again People told former Paterson Mayor Joey Torres that he couldn't run for mayor again after being convicted of corruption in office. He wasn't listening, though. That changed on Friday, March 11, when state authorities announced that they'd charged Torres, 63, with criminal contempt. “State law provides that any person convicted of a crime involving their public office will be forever barred from holding another public position in New Jersey,” Acting New Jersey Attorney General Platkin said. “To promote public trust and integrity in government, we must ensure that this law and the court orders…
Indictment: Inmate In Burned-Body Case Got Drugs, More Into NJ Prison Through Sister, Guard Indictment: Inmate In Burned-Body Case Got Drugs, More Into NJ Prison Through Sister, Guard
Indictment: Inmate In Burned-Body Case Got Drugs, More Into NJ Prison Through Sister, Guard A New Jersey convict serving time for helping burn a shooting victim's body distributed drugs, mini-cellphones and other contraband to fellow inmates with help from his sister and a crooked correctional officer, authorities charged. James "NuNu" Todd, 30, and his sister, Hassanah Todd, 32, paid the now-former officer to smuggle items that included synthetic cannabinoid -- otherwise known as "K2' -- into Northern State Prison in Newark, Acting Attorney General Andrew J. Bruck said Tuesday. Todd had been serving time there following his 2013 conviction for helping another man dispose of the b…
Four More NJ Prison Officers Charged In Vicious Beatings Of Female Inmates Four More NJ Prison Officers Charged In Vicious Beatings Of Female Inmates
Four More NJ Prison Officers Charged In Vicious Beatings Of Female Inmates UPDATE: Four more correctional officers have been charged in the brutal beating and pepper-spraying of inmates at a New Jersey women’s prison, bringing the total to eight, authorities announced Thursday. Of the four officers newly charged for the January incident at the Edna Mahan Correctional Facility, one is from Maywood, another from Paterson, a third from Somerset and the other from East Piscataway. All four senior officers “purposely or knowingly attempted to cause serious bodily injury to inmates as an accomplice or as a principal by using force beyond what was objectively reasonable …
Jersey Shore Ex-Bloomberg Construction Chief Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen For Bid-Rigging Scheme Jersey Shore Ex-Bloomberg Construction Chief Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen For Bid-Rigging Scheme
Jersey Shore Ex-Bloomberg Construction Chief Gets 3½ Years In Fed Pen For Bid-Rigging Scheme A former construction executive with Bloomberg LP was sentenced to 3½ years in federal prison Tuesday in connection for masterminding a bid-rigging scheme that prosecutors said netted him an estimated $1.45 million in bribes. Anthony Guzzone of Middletown admitted last summer that he ducked taxes on the dirty money by not reporting it to the IRS. It was part of more than $6 million that federal authorities said he and other Bloomberg managers collected – in cash – from subcontractors over more than eight years Guzzone, 52, also got free construction work on his home and tickets to the Supe…
Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme
Ex-Newark Police Officer Goes To Fed Pen For 9 Years For Kickback Scheme A former Newark police officer is headed to federal prison for the next nine years for paying kickbacks to a corrupt official for a private security contract. Janell Robinson, 45, of Newark must serve just about all of the entire sentence because there’s no parole in the federal prison system. Jurors in U.S. District Court in Newark convicted Robinson last February of conspiring in a massive corruption scheme with Linda Watkins Brashear, the former executive director of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corporation (NWCDC). The NWCDC provided water to half a million New Jer…
Brick City Backhander: Feds Charge Newark Councilman With Taking Payoffs For Influence Brick City Backhander: Feds Charge Newark Councilman With Taking Payoffs For Influence
Brick City Backhander: Feds Charge Newark Councilman With Taking Payoffs For Influence Federal agents caught a sitting Newark City Council member pocketing payoffs in exchange for influence, authorities said Tuesday. West Ward Councilman Joseph A. McCallum Jr., 65, was charged with soliciting and collecting bribes and kickbacks at the same time that a consultant from the city, 60-year-old Malik Frederick, was pleading guilty to his role in the scheme, they said. McCallum “schemed to receive concealed bribes and kickbacks from Frederick, funded by developers, contracting companies, and other businesses seeking contracts and approvals principally related to development, constru…
Consultant Admits Bribing Former NJ Assemblyman Consultant Admits Bribing Former NJ Assemblyman
Consultant Admits Bribing Former NJ Assemblyman A computer consultant admitted in federal court Wednesday that he bribed a former New Jersey state assemblyman currently under indictment in connection with a series of kickback schemes. Jeanmarie Zahore, 56, of Rahway told a U.S. District Court judge in Newark via teleconference that he made the corrupt payments when Willis Edwards III was the acting business administrator for the city of Orange. Zahore received a $350,000 contract without competitive bidding from the Orange City Council in September 2015 for JZ Nettech, a computer consulting business that he operated from his home, U.S. A…
Ex-Public Works Manager Admits Dumping Private Waste Into South Jersey Sewers Ex-Public Works Manager Admits Dumping Private Waste Into South Jersey Sewers
Ex-Public Works Manager Admits Dumping Private Waste Into South Jersey Sewers A former public works manager from Burlington County has admitted dumping his private septic company's waste into Wrightstown sewers, authorities said. Rodman Lucas, 62, of Pemberton Township, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to conspiracy to tamper with public records, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said.Lucas' criminal case was part of a lengthy corruption probe by the state Comptroller's Office  Lucas is an ex-operator of the Wrightstown Municipal Utilities Authority (WMUA). He admitted to  using the public works authority to improperly dump waste from his private sept…
NJ State Trooper Charged With Pulling Woman Over, Following Her Home To Hit On Her NJ State Trooper Charged With Pulling Woman Over, Following Her Home To Hit On Her
NJ State Trooper Charged With Pulling Woman Over, Following Her Home To Hit On Her A New Jersey state trooper stalked a woman while on duty, authorities said Friday. Michael Patterson, 28, of Bayonne first stopped the female motorist for an unspecified offense on the New Jersey Turnpike on Jan. 28, state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal said. After letting her go with a warning, Paterson “conducted a second, unwarranted stop of her vehicle a few minutes later when she exited the Turnpike at Exit 11….in order to make unwanted advances on the woman,” Grewal said. Patterson “put the victim in fear by following her to her home in his patrol vehicle,” the attorney …
Former Passaic Mayor Samuel 'Sammy' Rivera Dies Former Passaic Mayor Samuel 'Sammy' Rivera Dies
Former Passaic Mayor Samuel 'Sammy' Rivera Dies Former Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera has died in a nursing home in Pennsylvania, current Mayor Hector Carlos Lora confirmed Friday. He was 73. A cause of death wasn't immediately disclosed. "As a city we extend our condolences to the Rivera family on the passing of former Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera," Lora wrote. "I still speak to people today who share stories of how he helped them personally and how much he cared about people.  "Many in our community can remember his approach to cleaning up the streets of violent crimes and how visible he was in Passaic," the mayor said. Born in Caye…