This topic contains news on the arrests and Federal criminal charges against Jersey City public servants. Replies are not permitted. Webb-Washington pleads guilty to accepting bribes from informant By Ron Zeitlinger/The Jersey Journal October 08, 2009, 1:06PM Former Jersey City City Council candidate LaVern Webb-Washington, 61, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right in federal court in Newark. Webb-Washington wiped tears from her face throughout the short hearing where she admitted she conspired with former Jersey City Housing commissioner Edward Cheatam, political consultant Jack Shaw and others to receive $15,000 in bribes. Cheatam pleaded guilty last month to accepting bribes and passing them along to Mayor Jerramiah Healy's campaign. Shaw was found dead in his Jersey City home on July 28, less than a week after being charged in the massive corruption sting that netted Webb-Washington, Cheatam and dozens of others. Webb-Washington faces 12 to 18 months in prison when she is sentenced at 11 a.m. on Jan 12. Webb-Washington, wearing a brown sweater, brown pants and a leopard skin-pattern vest, asked the judge if she could sit during the hearing because she had a bad knee. The judge allowed her to sit. On Tuesday Jersey City Ward B Councilman Philip Kenny pleaded guilty to taking $5,000 in bribes. He is the sixth Hudson County public official to plead guilty in the investigation revolving around informant Solomon Dwek. The others are Guy Catrillo, Maher Khalil, Edward Cheatam, Denis Jaslow and Jimmy King. At its Sept. 15 board meeting, the Jersey City Redevelopment Agency asked Webb-Washington to step down as president of a not-for-profit community organization that is involved with an affordable housing project being overseen by the JCRA. Webb-Washington stepped down as president, but named her son, Wali A. Washington, president of Webb-Washington Community Corp. Not sufficiently impressed with the change, JCRA Executive Director Robert Antonicello said he wanted the organization removed as a partner in the development and wanted the developer of the project, Gene O'Connell of JP Affordable Housing, to find a new not-for-profit to serve as general partner for the 39-unit Fred W. Martin Houses being built on Martin Luther King Drive. As general partner, Webb-Washington Community Corp. is in charge of making sure social services are available to building residents and generally serves as a liaison between the developer and the community. For that service, Webb-Washington Community Corp. received a one-time fee of $100,000, which is to be used to fund the organization's community programs, O'Connell said. Antonicello said he hoped to have the situation "resolved" before the JCRA's next board meeting on Oct. 20. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shake-up on Jersey City's council Wednesday, October 07, 2009 joe ryan STAR-LEDGER STAFF Mariano Vega, the Jersey City Council president arrested in this summer's massive corruption sting, stepped down from his leadership post yesterday after a surprise guilty plea by a fellow councilman who had not previously been charged in the case. Vega, who for months has resisted calls to leave office over allegations he paid bribes to a government informant, issued a one-sentence letter announcing he was "temporarily" relinquishing his position as council president until he is "completely exonerated." He will remain on the City Council. Vega's resignation came hours after Philip J. Kenny, a fellow Democrat on the council, told a federal judge in Newark that he had accepted $5,000 from an informant who posed as a crooked real estate developer. Kenny, 53, was elected to the council in May, running with Vega on a ticket headed by Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy. Kenny was not among the scores of public officials and operatives arrested in July, and he surprised colleagues yesterday by becoming the case's 45th defendant. "I am just as stunned as everyone by this news. I had always known Phil Kenny to be an honest person who was dedicated to his city and his community," Healy said in a statement announcing Vega's resignation. Vega's lawyer, Peter R. Willis, said his client stepped down to end infighting on the council and insisted the move was unrelated to Kenny's guilty plea. "It was absolutely coincidental," Willis said. Meanwhile, two other Jersey City political figures -- Louis Manzo and his brother, Ronald -- were indicted yesterday on charges of conspiracy to commit extortion in connection to the case. Louis Manzo ran against Healy in May; his brother is a political adviser and was a leading donor to former governor Jim McGreevey. More than a dozen elected or appointed officials from Hudson County were caught up in the sting. Six of them, including Kenny, have pleaded guilty. The investigation revolved around a single informant: Solomon Dwek, a once-millionaire developer who began cooperating with the FBI after being charged with bank fraud in 2006. He spent more than two years wearing a wire, targeting public officials who allegedly took bribes, and rabbis who supposedly laundered money. Because of his guilty plea, Kenny is required under law to resign from the council. A former operations coordinator for the Hudson County Board of Freeholders, Kenny grew up in Jersey City and has been active in local politics for more than a decade. He has worked for the Jersey City Parking Authority, served as a ward committeeman and spent eight years as chief of staff to William O'Dea, a Hudson County freeholder. As he confessed in court yesterday, Kenny acknowledged accepting the bribe from Dwek at a Jersey City restaurant in March, one week before taking office. In exchange for the money, Kenny said he promised to help secure zoning approvals for a luxury condominium Dwek claimed to be building. Kenny faces up to two years in prison under the terms of his plea deal, said Christopher J. Gramiccioni, an assistant U.S. attorney. U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares set sentencing for Jan. 12. Kenny was released on $50,000 bail. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jersey City Councilman Phil Kenny pleads guilty in massive NJ corruption case By Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal October 06, 2009, 12:50PM Reena Rose Sibayan/The Jersey Journal Jersey City Councilman Phil Kenny pleaded guilty today in the massive New Jersey corruption case. Jersey City Councilman Philip J. Kenny pleaded guilty in federal court in Newark this afternoon to accepting $,5000 in bribes as part of the massive New Jersey corruption case that broke over the summer. Kenny, who represents the city's West Side, Ward B, hadn't been charged in the original roundup of suspects. In pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, Kenny admitted that in March he met with a government informant posing as a developer wanting to grease the wheels for a fictitious development project on Garfield Avenue. Two meetings were cited -- both in Jersey City restaurants and both attended by Kenny, the informant and an unnamed "Jersey City Official.'' At the first meeting, Kenny agreed to accept $5,000 broken down into two $2,500 contributions from "straw donors'' for his Friends of Phil Kenny war chest in exchange for future official favors in getting zoning and other approvals. At the second meeting, he accepted the money, knowing it was illegal to do so. Kenny is out on $55,000 bail until his Jan. 12 sentencing when he faces 12 to 24 months in prison. Kenny has been in office only since the spring. He was appointed to the Ward B seat on April 6 after Councilwoman Mary Spinello resigned, just weeks before the May 12 election. She had left to head the Jersey City Parking Authority, and the council voted to replace her for the short stretch in what some deemed an inappropriate attempt to give Kenny the "incumbent'' advantage come Election Day. Kenny ran on Mayor Jerramiah Healy's ticket and was elected on the first ballot. Before Kenny's appointment, Council President and fellow Healy running mate Mariano Vega sang his praises. "He's been a strong activist for a long time,'' Vega, who has since been charged in the corruption sting, said. "It's an appointment of someone I think people can trust.'' In addition to his council post, Kenny is the office manager for Hudson County Board of Freeholders and has been a state Democratic committeeman; West Side ward leader for Obama presidential campaign; trustee of the Lincoln Park Little League, and an usher and Eucharistic minister at St. Aloysius Church in Jersey City. He is the sixth person -- all from Jersey City -- to plead guilty in the sweep that netted 44 men and women from New Jersey and New York on a variety of charges that ranged from political corruption to the sale of body parts. On Sept. 24, unsuccessful Ward C candidate James "Jimmy" King pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from a government informant posing as a developer. Before that, former Jersey City Housing Authority commissioner Edward Cheatham, former Hudson County Superintendent of Elections investigator Denis Jaslow, and former Jersey City municipal employees Maher Khalil and Guy Catrillo also pleaded guilty to their roles in the scandal. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Council Report: Villagers at the Gate, a New Council President (Pro Tem) and More Click on link above for The Jersey City Independent article - By Shane Smith ? Jul 31st, 2009 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- N.J. corruption case could expand as prosecutors seek to turn defendants by Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin /The Star-Ledger Posted by mrispoli July 30, 2009 21:59PM NEWARK -- More than a week after 44 people were rounded up in a massive federal corruption and money laundering sting, there has been little said publicly about what happens next in the far-ranging investigation. Veteran prosecutors, however, say it's not hard to guess what's going on behind the curtain of radio silence -- and it's no small undertaking, even by the standards of those expert in sprawling, complex investigations. "They're trolling the defendants, looking for more cases," said Gary Cutler, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney for the New Jersey District. Like fishermen trailing long lines from a slow-moving boat among schools of fish, the usual routine in such cases is to see which of those charged will quickly "flip," or cooperate with investigators, Cutler said. Basically, investigators are widening the inquiry and looking to strengthen the case against those who maintain their right to remain silent. "Obviously they have worked this case for many years. It's going to take tremendous effort to prosecute it," said Cutler, who prosecuted Charles Curliari, known as "Chuckie the meat man," in an $80 million pyramid scheme in 1990s. Other than a flurry of recent subpoenas, the U.S. Attorney's office has kept a low public profile in the ongoing criminal probe. The case continues to spark speculation and rampant rumors among political players waiting for the next shoe to drop or seeing gain or loss to the fortunes of their opponents. Some are looking to see yet another roundup in the coming days. Talk abounds about who may be targeted next -- much of it wrong. One political aide said to have been taken in by federal agents was seen on a golf course not 10 minutes later. Officials in the U.S. Attorney's office say only that there will be little public developments anytime soon, and would not comment on the subpoenas, other than to note they were being prepared in conjunction with the arrests. EPA/Justin LaneActing U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra Jr., center, stands with Weysan Dun, right, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Newark, and Julio LaRosa, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, during a press conference last week following the arrests of 44 people in a sweeping corruption and money laundering probe. Those subpoenas -- seeking tax information, election records and other municipal documents -- were not requested before the arrests in order to maintain the secrecy of the undercover operation, two sources with knowledge of the investigation said. Even before the arrests, the sources said, federal agents were approaching a couple of key suspects they thought might quickly cooperate and provide evidence against others. The sources would not be named because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the government's case. Cutler, now a partner with Harris, Cutler, Cash & Houghteling LLP, expects there will be more search warrants. Meanwhile, the clock is ticking. Prosecutors have just 30 days to decide whether to return an indictment or work out a plea deal, said Robert Mintz, who spent almost nine years as an assistant U.S. Attorney in New Jersey. He said defense attorneys for those arrested are likely trying to see exactly what they may be up against. "What's happening right now is that prosecutors are dealing with an army of lawyers trying to determine who is looking to cut a deal and who is going to fight these charges for the time being," he said. "They are getting bombarded by defense lawyers trying to figure out the strength of the cases, so they can make decisions on how to proceed as to whether to take the government on, or strike a deal." Investigators are using the time to continue working the case, said Mintz, now an attorney with McCarter & English, LLP. The strength of the case is likely on full display in the blunt language of the surveillance tapes contained in the criminal complaints that led to the arrests. In one of the complaints, for example, Jersey City building inspector John Guarani is caught on tape receiving a $20,000 payment from Solomon Dwek, an informant working for the FBI under the guise of being a developer seeking building projects in Hudson County. "Take care of me, I'll take care of you," Dwek said. "Absolutely," Guarani says, according to the complaint. U.S. Attorney, FBI hold press conference on corruption arrests Prosecutors often put their most compelling evidence in the complaint, and later an indictment, said Lori Grifa, a former special Assistant District Attorney in the homicide investigation unit of Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Not only does it put their cards on the table, she said, but the indictment itself is read to the jury when the case goes to trial. "If you have a strong case, you let them know," she said. "If you own their guy, they see the paper right away." The strength of the defense will in large part depend not on attacking the informant -- who is awaiting trial on a $50 million bank fraud and has been cooperating with authorities ever since his arrest -- but rather on the nature and quality of the surveillance tapes, said Grifa, now a partner at Wolff & Samson PC. But, she said, the quality of surveillance technology is so improved, that arguing over what may have been said is no longer the issue it once was. "They don't really know at this point what their options are, in terms of the viability of asserting a defense, but they will be so limited because of their words," Grifa said. For his part, Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra Jr. has little to say about what comes next. "The element of surprise was very much built in to the investigative plan in this case," he said. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jersey City residents ask council president Mariano Vega to resign

U.S. Attorney, FBI hold press conference on corruption arrests

Mayor Jerramiah Healy, in this exclusive interview, talked for the first time about his role as public official #4 Jack Shaw agreed to cooperate with FBI in N.J. corruption probe before his death by Josh Margolin and Chris Megerian/Statehouse Bureau -NJ.com Thursday July 30, 2009, 5:04 PM JERSEY CITY -- Jack Shaw, the Hudson County political consultant found dead in his apartment just days after his arrest on bribery charges, had agreed to cooperate with federal authorities in their sweeping government corruption probe, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. Shaw, 61, was to help develop new information on those already charged in the case and to possibly identify new targets, said the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the arrangement. ROBERT SCIARRINO/THE STAR-LEDGER Jack Shaw, who was found dead Tuesday in Jersey City, was one of many people brought to FBI Headquarters in Newark last week after after being charged in an FBI corruption probe. Sources said today that Shaw agreed to cooperate in the investigation prior to his death. Shaw turned state's evidence after the case against him was developed, but federal agents were unable to tap him for information because of his unexpected death, the sources said. Shaw, a key player in Hudson County politics for more than two decades, was discovered dead in his Jersey City apartment Tuesday evening. Authorities are trying to determine whether he took his own life or died of natural causes. He was known to be in poor health, and multiple pill bottles were found in the home. His death came five days after his arrest in the federal case, a massive two-track probe focusing on bribery among public officials and international money laundering by rabbis and others in the Syrian Jewish community. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On Loopholes, Kidneys and Zone Changes: More on Thursday?s NJ Bust By Ashby Jones The Wall Street Journal Law Blog - July 23, 2009, 1:47 PM We blogged earlier this morning on the situation unfolding out in New Jersey, where dozens of people were being arrested as part of a federal investigation into public corruption and a high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy. We know a good deal more now, following the unveiling of some 30 criminal complaints and a press release led by New Jersey?s acting U.S. attorney, Ralph Mara. Click here for the WSJ story. The arrests and summonses made today were made pursuant to a two-tracked investigation that had gone on for 10 years. One track: a public-corruption probe which led to the arrest and summons of 29 politicians and a money-laundering probe allegedly involving 15 others, including 5 rabbis. The list of those arrested (click here) include the 32 year-old Hoboken mayor, Peter Cammarano, a Democrat (pictured, left); Secaucus mayor Dennis Elwell (pictured, right), also a Democrat; state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, a Republican; and Democrat Leona Beldini, the deputy mayor of Jersey City. The money-laundering scheme allegedly involved Saul Kassin, the Coney Island-based U.S. head of a large Syrian-Jewish congregation. Politicians ?willingly put themselves up for sale,? for ?hundreds of thousands of dollars,? said Mara during the press conference, saying they took advantage of ?huge loopholes? in the state?s anticorruption laws. ?The victims here are average citizens; they don?t have a chance in this culture of corruption,? he added. Through a sting operation involving a single cooperating witness, Mara says the government effectively laundered $3 million and paid about $650,000 in bribes to politicians. The probe also involves the trafficking of body parts. According to Mara, Levy-Izhak Rosenbaum was allegedly engaged in a scheme in which he purchased kidneys from live donors for $10,000 each, then would turn around and sell them for $160,000. Some snippets from the complaints: In the complaint against Beldini (Healy's campaign treasurer), the informant makes it crystal clear to JC Official 4 / Healy that he is offering a total of $30K in exchange for political favors to expedite approval of his fake real estate project. Shaw, Cheatam (love the name), and Beldini take the money (paid in 10K installments) and launder it by dividing it up and giving it to separate ?donors? who then turn around and make individual campaign contributions to Healy's campaign of $2,500 each, i.e. within the legal limit of $2,600 for individual donors. I can only think that the reason the Feds didn't arrest Healy yet is that they're hoping Beldini, Shaw, Cheatam or one of the other JC officials will flip Healy so they can further strengthen their case against him. Especially damning for Healy is item 23: ? 23. On or about April 30, 2009, defendant Beldini met defendant Shaw, defendant Cheatam, JC Official 4 and the CW at a luncheonette in Jersey City. Before defendant Beldini or JC Official 4 arrived, defendant Shaw was informed by the CW that the CW had brought $10,000 in cash that the CW would give to defendant Shaw after the meeting to arrange a contribution to JC Official 4. After defendant Beldini arrived, Beldini was informed by the CW that the CW would be applying for a zone change in approximately two months and to not let such application go to the ?bottom? of the pile, to which defendant Beldini responded that she could say ?one thing? about JC Official 4--JC Official 4 ?remembered? JC Official 4's ?friends,? and JC Official 4's word was ?gold.? Defendant Beldini further was advised that the CW would give defendant Shaw another $10,000 after the meeting and then, in turn, defendant Shaw would do ?business? with defendant Beldini. Defendant Beldini further was advised by the CW that the CW would give another $10,000 after the election. After JC Official 4 arrived, among other things, defendant Cheatam advised JC Official 4 that they would get development matters relating to the CW moving after the election. Shortly thereafter, defendant Cheatam advised JC Official 4 that the CW wanted to be on the ?top? of the ?pile.? JC Official 4 was further told by the CW that the CW: (a) had given $10,000 to defendant Shaw already (a reference to the March 20th payment of money to defendant Shaw); (b) would give another $10,000 to defendant Shaw that day to be passed on to JC Official 4's election fund; and (c) would give another $10,000 after the election, to which, JC Official 4 responded, among other things, that hopefully ?we? could work ?together? and that this would be ?mutually beneficial.? After defendant Beldini and JC Official 4 left, while outside the luncheonette, defendant Shaw told the CW that ?everybody? (to include defendant Beldini and JC Official 4) was as ?happy as hell.? Thereafter, defendant Shaw accepted $10,000 in cash from the CW to structure as political contributions to JC Official 4 as facilitated by defendant Beldini.? From the complaint naming Guy Catrillo, a Jersey City politician: On or about April 27, 2009, at approximately 5:46 p.m., FBI agents intercepted an incoming call from defendant CATRILLO to the Consultant?s cell phone. During the conversation, the Consultant asked defendant CATRILLO, ?Did you get the money from [the CW] when we saw him the other day [April 23rd]?? Defendant CATRILLO replied, ?Yeah, I, I took care of that. Yeah.? The Consultant responded, ?Okay, good. Then I won?t push to get it.? Defendant CATRILLO then indicated that he had already put the cash to use, noting that ?[y]eah, so, you know, that?s, that?s going out to, uh, you know, to the streets.? From the complaint naming Mariano Vega, a Jersey City councilman: On or about March 5, 2009, at a restaurant in Jersey City, defendant Vega met with JC Official 2 and the CW. Before defendant Vega arrived, JC Official 2 advised the CW that the CW could discuss with defendant Vega the development projects that the CW purportedly was interested in doing in Jersey City. The CW inquired of JC Official 2 if defendant Vega would accept cash for his official assistance, to which JC Official 2 responded that the CW could probably give defendant Vega a check (for a political contribution) and that defendant Vega would be ?on board? with that.