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Will there be another?
Henry Rhodes, 59, admitted in state Superior Court in Newark last week that he lied to school districts about the safety of buses and the credentials of drivers at both companies, New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said.
The goal, authorities said, was to keep lucrative busing contracts in Essex, Hudson, Passaic and Union counties no matter the cost.
They even went so far as to create a new company that engaged in similar practices after A-1 Elegant Tours, owner Shelim Khalique and Rhodes, who was its manager, were indicted by a state grand jury, Platkin said.
In the end, Rhodes got a sweet deal.
He pleaded guilty to two counts each of conspiracy and theft by deception in exchange for a four-year state prison sentence -- of which he's expected to serve a fraction before he'll already be eligible for parole.
Rhodes also agreed to a 10-year ban from doing business with the state of New Jersey "or any of its administrative or political subdivisions," Platkin said.
Attention now turns to Khalique, the bus company owner from Wayne, whose case is still pending. Will he take a plea, as well, given the likelihood that Rhodes would testify for the state against him?
Investigators initially found that A-1 Elegant "employed numerous drivers who did not have valid commercial driver’s licenses or required endorsements, [and] had suspended licenses, and/or criminal records," Platkin said last week.
All told, he said, A-1 employed more than 30 drivers with criminal convictions, including a convicted sex offender.
One of the drivers even got into an accident in Newark and had to be revived with Narcan while driving schoolchildren with special needs, the attorney general noted.
SEE: Kids OK After Special Needs School Bus Driver ODs Behind Wheel, Crashes In Newark
A-1 "failed to maintain mandatory fingerprinting, background-check and drug-testing records," Platkin said. The company also hired aides with criminal records and didn't bother to maintain its fleet.
One morning in Paterson, surprise inspections conducted after students were dropped off found nearly every bus with such severe violations that the investigators impounded them, state officials said. New Jersey's Motor Vehicle Commission cited A-1 and its drivers 22 times in the city in 2018 alone, they said.
The company at times evaded MVC scrutiny by diverting unlicensed drivers away from inspection sites and having them keep buses overnight at their homes, authorities alleged.
“It is painfully apparent that the operators of this company lost their moral compass, putting profit above safety,” NJ State Police Supt. Col. Patrick J. Callahan said at one point.
Things didn't stop there, though.
Following the first indictment, A-1 Elegant's equipment, assets and employees were transferred to a company called American Star. This included Rhodes, who reportedly took a supervisory job.
He and the others got caught again after a police officer in River Edge pulled over an American Star driver who ran a stop sign and discovered that he not only was unlicensed but also was awaiting trial for patronizing a prostitute.
State investigators quickly turned their attention to American Star. They found that it, too, had lied to school districts about employees who weren't properly licensed -- and in some cases had criminal backgrounds, Platkin said.
Now it's all about Khalique, who late last year won reelection as president of Paterson’s main Bangladeshi mosque.
Khalique has other legal entanglements, as well: He's among those charged in a separate election-fraud case out of Paterson that also is still pending.
SEE: Paterson Councilman, Councilman-Elect, Two Others Charged With Election Fraud
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