Former Mayor Sharpe James Returns to Newark
by Jenna Flanagan

NEW YORK, NY April 07, 2010 ?After spending 18 months in a federal prison for fraud, Newark's former Mayor Sharpe James has returned to the city he led for 20 years. James was convicted of fraud in 2006.

James returned from Virginia on a bus last night. Rutgers History Professor Clement Price says he's known James professionally for the past 20 years and that the Newark James is returning to is no longer his city.

"Newark is a city that has craved heroes and heroines," Price says. "The mayor being so prominent is oftentimes the person who becomes emblematic of the city's aspirations."

Price says those aspirations now have more to do with current Mayor Corey Booker, who ran in a contentious race against Sharpe James in 2002 before winning the office in 2006.

Price says some are cheering the former mayor's return, but "there will be others who will associate Sharpe James with an old Newark."

That didn't stop a crowd of supporters from gathering at the bus terminal to welcome James back to their city.

"He's done what the law requires and now he's coming home," says former Essex County Prosecutor Clifford Minor. "We're here to greet him and let him know we miss him."

Minor plans to run against Newark's incumbent Mayor Cory Booker in the May election.

Sharpe James will spend the remaining 9 months of his sentence at a Newark halfway house. He's appealing his conviction.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie was the U.S. Attorney who prosecuted James. Today, Christie said James should've gotten a longer sentence, but that James has paid his debt to society... and Christie wishes the former mayor a "happy and productive life."

Ex-Newark Mayor James Gets 27-Month Prison Term for Corruption By David Voreacos July 29 (Bloomberg) -- Sharpe James, the former mayor of Newark, New Jersey, was sentenced to 27 months in prison and fined $100,000 for illegally steering city-owned property to a former mistress. James, 72, was convicted April 16 of arranging Newark's sale of nine properties for $46,000 to Tamika Riley, who resold them for $665,000. Prosecutors said he engineered the sales to maintain his extramarital affair with Riley, 39. A jury in Newark federal court convicted them of fraud and conspiracy. ``If I made a mistake, your honor, it was not out of malice or intent,'' James told U.S. District Judge William Martini today before he was sentenced, also apologizing to his wife of 44 years, Mary, and their three sons. ``I would never do anything to hurt the city of Newark.'' James, who ran New Jersey's largest city from 1986 to 2006 and previously served as a state senator, was one of the state's most powerful elected leaders. In five terms as mayor, he revived the downtown business district and built a reputation as a charismatic politician who dominated the city. ``The victim here was the public trust,'' Martini said. The sentence was the minimum under federal guidelines of 27 to 33 months. James was one of the most prominent of more than 100 public officials convicted of corruption in the six-year tenure of U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie. 20 Years Prosecutors had argued that James deserved as much as 20 years in prison. Martini said at a hearing last week that such a sentence would be too long. Riley, a publicist from Jersey City, also was convicted of tax evasion and defrauding the state of housing assistance. Riley bought properties under a program to redevelop Newark's impoverished South Ward, an area devastated by the 1967 race riots that prompted many businesses and much of the city's middle class to flee to the suburbs. Riley bought nine properties at discounted prices between 2001 and 2005 and failed to redevelop most of them, as required, prosecutors said. The housing program was based on fraud and favoritism, prosecutors argued at trial. Today, Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Germano urged Martini to impose a sentence of 15 to 20 years, although the judge previously said the term would not be that long. ``Defendants to this day continue to make excuses and recast the conduct,'' Germano said. ``The corruption in which the defendants engaged threatens to rot the city at its core. He feasted on the unbridled power, and he wielded that power to foster his relationship with Tamika Riley.'' Repeatedly Questioned Martini repeatedly questioned prosecutors about the strength of their case, chastising them for seeking such a long prison term, and questioning whether they would have brought the case if Riley was not the mayor's girlfriend. The judge said it was ``wrong'' for prosecutors ``to suggest that a 15- to 20-year sentence is what's justice and to think that's going to intimidate me and put me on the spot.'' Martini said prosecutors failed to show that James and Riley got a financial benefit from the fraud. Rather, he said, James sought to help his girlfriend. ``It gets messy sometimes, life,'' the judge said. Martini said ``five or six'' developers made more money from the housing program at the heart of the case and were not indicted ``because they were not having a relationship with the mayor.'' `Was Their Influence?' ``Was there influence used to get people properties?,'' Martini asked. ``Probably. Is that a crime? That's a fine line. Just because a mayor or public official gets a friend a property, is that wrong?'' He also questioned whether prosecutors had filed similar cases in housing assistance or tax fraud cases such as those in which Riley was convicted. Also today, Riley was sentenced to 15 months in prison. ``I did make a lot of mistakes and God knows I'm learning,'' Riley told Martini beforehand. ``I want to also apologize to Mrs. James, just for everything. I did not come to Newark, New Jersey, to deceive. I take full responsibility. You ain't never, ever, ever got to worry about me ever coming back to your courtroom or anybody else's courtroom.'' Neither James nor Riley testified to the jury of six men and six women. Both faced the same five charges, including mail fraud and conspiracy. Riley faced eight additional counts, including tax fraud and tax evasion. Prosecutors said that, aside from companionship, Riley gave James $4,300 in tickets to a 2002 heavyweight boxing match and $960 in limousine services. After the conviction, prosecutors decided to forego a second trial of James on charges of using city-issued credit cards to pay for $58,000 in personal expenses, including trips with several women to Rio de Janeiro, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The case is U.S. v. Sharpe James and Tamika Riley, 07-cr- 578, U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey (Newark). For related news: For top legal stories, see TLAW --Editors: David E. Rovella, Patrick Oster To contact the reporter on this story: David Voreacos in U.S. District Court in Newark, New Jersey, at +1-973-286-0016 or dvoreacos@bloomberg.net.

Newark ex-Mayor Sharpe James arrives at court for sentencing

by Jeff Whelan and John P. Martin
The Star-Ledger
Tuesday July 29, 2008

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James arrived at the federal courthouse in Newark this morning for his sentencing on corruption charges that could put him behind bars for a decade.

U.S. District Judge William Martini will sentence the former Democratic power broker and his co-defendant, Tamika Riley, during a 10 a.m. hearing. Riley arrived in court several minutes before the former mayor.

About 125 people packed the courtroom as the hearing was set to begin. U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and Attorney General Anne Milgram sat in the front row.

Prosecutors contend that James deserves as much as 20 years in prison for arranging the sale of lucrative city land to Riley, his one-time mistress. Defense attorneys have pleaded for leniency, saying any significant prison term would be a "lifelong sentence" for the 72-year-old James.

A jury convicted the pair in April, concluding that Riley got preferential treatment because of her ties to James and that the mayor had a duty to disclose their relationship before signing city contracts selling the properties.

The judge signaled last week that the prosecutors' request was too harsh, and said that even the 12 1/2 to 15 1/2-year prison term recommended by probation officials was "a stretch."

But the judge also hasn't openly embraced the defense's contention that James deserves leniency because of his age, his career in public service and the impact of the conviction on his family.

Riley, 39, a publicist from Jersey City, was also found guilty of tax evasion and lying about her income to collect housing subsidies. She could face 8 to 10 years in prison under federal sentencing guidelines.

I've concluded that this is the only solution - not electing the "right" people but drastically reducing the size of government and therefore the amount of money to be stolen. That and increasing how much people voluntarily spend their money vs. the government involuntarily taking it away and giving it to (at best) a third party.

Quote:

there are apparently a lot of very ignorant students out there if they think race has anything to do with this. This guys nothing but a gangsta

Thats why I say cut taxes and smaller government. Give them less rope to hang themselves.

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I need a fact checker (among many other things)

First of, although I haven't heard a complaint on this, I apologize to the Mayor of Weehawken. It is not he who is on trial, or even accused of anything. I should have looked that up before saying such a stupid thing. I hope I didn't cause any harm or distress.

I had in mind Guttenberg's Mayor David Delle Donna and his wife Anna who are on trial for some really low-class corruption. During the ongoing trial there has been testimony that involves bribery, money laundering, drugs, prostitution, illegal immigration and slavery.

The usual. Ya can't make this stuff up.

Like I said...they are all corrupt little puppets they manipulate the system to get what they want. They get their political cronies to to run for this, run for that, to get to the MULA!!!!= OUR TAX MONEY, ...ulterior motives. With all the corruption, it gets harder and harder to trust ANY politicians.

Quote:Oh, puh-leeze. Give us a break. OJ used up all that loosey-goosey talk a long time ago.

I guess she never heard of Bobby J, or the Mayor of Weehawken who probably will share the same fate.

Let's hope that Chris Christie and the Feds come to Jersey City and lock up the Cunningham Crime Family. While they are at it, take a look at Charlie Epps. Tamika Riley, Sharpe James' mistress, used to be on the Board of Education payroll.

Cheers, groans greet guilty verdict

by Barry Carter and Robin Gaby Fisher/The Star-Ledger
Wednesday April 16, 2008, 12:10 PM

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James has long been a polarizing figure, and news of his conviction drew a mix of celebration and lament from the city streets he governed for two decades.

Judge Banks, 72, sat in his car outside a South Ward supermarket and smiled broadly after learning James had been found guilty of conspiring to rig the sale of city land to his one-time mistress.

"Great," he said. "I have watched Sharpe James all through his political career. He rose to riches off of us. I have seen a lot of the stuff that he did, and I know that he is a vindictive dude."

A few moments earlier, Brandon Bernard, 78, learned the news and was stunned.

"I thought he would beat it because there was nothing they could actually charge him with," Bernard said.

Students greeted reacted to the verdict with mixed emotion at Essex County College, where James worked for decades.

One student blamed the verdict on racism.

"They're just picking on him," said Ijeoma Ukenta, 25, who lives in Newark and is majoring in business and accounting. "If he was white they would have had more mercy. You see that with the governor (of New York). He was caught with prostitutes."

Other students were less forgiving of James, who was athletic director of the college before becoming mayor and led its Urban Affairs Institute for about a year before being indicted.

"He was cheating the public," said Sam Mathew, 22, a computer information systems major from West Orange. "That's unethical."

Outside the federal courthouse, Carolyn Kelley Shabazz was disappointed. She said has supported the former mayor since he was first elected in 1986 and attended nearly every day of the trial.

She quoted Maya Angelou: ''You can stomp me down with your bitter twisted lies but still I rise. I rise,'" she said, referring to James.

Dianna Quamina of Newark attended much of the trial, often sitting beside James' wife.

"We came here for justice, and we got injustice," Quamina said during an interview outside the courthouse. "We came for him, and we came for her, Tamika. Whoever said sex is a crime."

At the Newark YMCA, where James often worked out, few seemed terribly surprised -- or troubled -- by the conviction.

"It's politics, and they're all stealing," said Hakeem Rollins, 31, who lives in Newark and works as a custodian, as he worked out.

At Je's Restaurant at the corner of Halsey and William Street, where James has long been a regular, the sentiment was mixed.

Cornell Williamson, 27, a lifelong Newark resident, said he'd followed the trial closely and was disappointed in James, the only mayor he had ever known.

"I feel there was a backdoor deal concealed from the public in Tamika Riley getting the property she got," he said. "The people we elect as our leaders should be the ones protecting us from this sort of thing -- not doing it themselves."

John Kidd was disappointed by the verdict and said Newark has deteriorated since James left office.

"All of a sudden now, since he's out of office, there's chaos," said Kidd, a lifelong resident.

He added that he thought the prosecution was an effort to discredit James and his accomplishments.

Back in the South Ward, Judge Banks saw his wife emerge from the supermarket and yelled: "He's guilty!"

"Give me a kiss!" yelled Marva Wright-Banks. "He stole our money and didn't give us nothing for 20 years."

Maura McDermott, John Mooney and Guy Sterling contributed to this report.

Jury finds Sharpe James and his mistress guilty on all counts. Sentencing on July 29th.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008 ... s_convicted.html#comments

Ex-Newark, N.J. mayor's trial opens

By JEFFREY GOLD
Associated Press Writer

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James leaves the U.S. District courthouse in Newark, N.J., in this July 12, 2007, file photo. For 20 years, James wielded immense power as mayor of New Jersey's largest city, a political boss who eventually held a dual role as a state senator. On Tuesday, Feb. 26, 2008, he will be just another criminal defendant in federal court as he begins the first of two federal corruption trials.

Prosecution and defense attorneys were set to deliver their opening statements Monday in the federal corruption trial of Sharpe James, the fiery former mayor of Newark.

James, mayor of New Jersey's largest city for more than 20 years, is accused of arranging for the sale of nine city-owned properties at discounted rates to co-defendant Tamika Riley, who then allegedly sold them for big profits.

James, 72, faces five charges, including fraud and conspiracy. Riley, 38, faces those charges and eight others, including tax evasion. Both pleaded innocent and are free on bail.

After this trial, which is expected to last several months, James faces a second trial on charges alleging he used city-issued credit cards to pay for $58,000 worth of personal expenses while he was mayor, including trips with several women other than his wife to Martha's Vineyard, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro.

The charges for both trials came from a July 12 indictment.

The federal court is just a block from City Hall, where James presided from 1986 to 2006 before deciding not to seek a sixth term. He also served as a state senator from 1999 to January 2008, when he left office after not seeking re-election.

Under federal advisory guidelines, James could face seven to eight years in prison if he is convicted on all counts. The judge also could impose a stiffer penalty of as much as 20 years on some individual counts.

James is one of the best-known figures snared in a series of New Jersey corruption cases brought by the U.S. Attorney's office. In the past several years, federal prosecutors have won more than 100 public corruption convictions of elected and appointed officials and people doing business with them such as contractors.

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Cast of characters in the trial of former Newark Mayor James

March 3, 2008
The Associated Press

Sharpe James, defendant:

Served as mayor of Newark, New Jersey's largest city, from 1986 to 2006 before deciding not to seek a sixth term. James, 72, also served as a state senator from 1999 to January 2008. He and a traveling companion, Tamika Riley, were indicted in July 2007 on charges that he abused his power to help her buy nine city-owned properties at discount rates. He faces five counts, including conspiracy and fraud. Under federal sentencing guidelines, James could get a prison term of about eight years if he is convicted on all counts. James also faces a second federal trial, which has not yet been scheduled, on charges that he used city-issued credit cards for $58,000 in personal expenses while he was mayor, including trips with several women other than his wife to Martha's Vineyard, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro.

Tamika Riley, defendant:

The 38-year-old Jersey City woman who once operated the Fashion Dome in downtown Newark and formed a public relations firm specializing in the entertainment industry. Now she works as a clerk at a clothing store in the Jersey Gardens Mall in Elizabeth. Riley told federal agents she had an intimate relationship with James, who is married, according to court filings. Besides the five counts faced by James, she faces eight others, including tax evasion for not declaring proceeds from her sales. Authorities charge she paid only $46,000 for the parcels, but sold them for nearly $700,000 and failed to redevelop them as required.

U.S. District Judge William J. Martini:

Martini's nomination to the federal bench by President George W. Bush was confirmed by the Senate in 2002. Martini, a Republican, served one term in the House before being defeated in 1996 by Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson. Martini previously served as a member of the Clifton City Council and the Passaic County Board of Freeholders. He was an assistant Hudson County prosecutor and a federal prosecutor in New Jersey.

Judith A. Germano, lead prosecutor:

Germano, 38, has been with the U.S. attorney's office in Newark for over five years. Besides political corruption cases, she obtained guilty pleas in 2006 from a smelting company and its vice president, who admitted attempting to illegally sell missile parts to China. In a separate case she handled in 2005, four people who operated an electronics firm in southern New Jersey pleaded guilty to violating export regulations by shipping nearly $400,000 of electronics that could be used for military purposes to entities controlled by the Chinese government. Germano got her law degree from St. John's University School of Law after graduating from Cornell University.

Thomas Ashley, lawyer for James:

A criminal defense lawyer for about 40 years, Ashley has handled other high-profile cases. He was unable to prevent a federal jury from convicting the top aide to James, Jackie R. Mattison, in 1997. Mattison got 41 months in federal prison for accepting $17,000 in bribes to steer city contracts to an insurance broker, who was also convicted. Other clients included men convicted of being mobsters.

Gerald Krovatin, lawyer for Riley:

Like Ashley, Krovatin has been a fixture at the federal courthouse. He has represented a number of politicians, including former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio, a Bergen County Democrat, who was indicted on federal corruption charges on Feb. 14. He also was the lawyer for state Attorney General Zulima Farber in 2006 when she came under fire after intervening when her boyfriend was pulled over by police. He also defended the founder of the International Boxing Federation, Robert W. Lee Sr., who was convicted in federal court in 2000 of incidental counts, but acquitted of charges he took bribes from promoters and managers in exchange for rigged rankings. He is married to author and columnist Anna Quindlen.

Former Newark mayor to begin federal corruption trial

JANET FRANKSTON LORIN
Sun, Feb. 24, 2008
The Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. - For 20 years, Sharpe James wielded immense power as mayor of New Jersey's largest city, a political boss who eventually held a dual role as a state senator.

But Tuesday, he will be just another criminal defendant in federal court as he begins the first of two federal corruption trials.

While Newark is moving forward without James, a lot is at stake for the 72-year-old former power broker, notably his legacy and his pension , not to mention the chance of years in prison if he's convicted.

"He happens to be larger-than-life figure," said Alan Zegas, one of James' attorneys. "He has done an enormous amount for the city in a very public way."

Today's Newark is laden with projects championed by James, including the decade-old New Jersey Performing Arts Center and the Prudential Center, a hockey arena which opened in October after James' longtime support.

But his actions, called corrupt by prosecutors, will also be aired in public, over two trials that are likely to last several months each.

The first trial centers on whether he arranged for the sale of nine city-owned properties at discounted rates to Tamika Riley, a woman nearly half his age with whom he traveled. Prosecutors said they will present evidence to show the two had an intimate personal relationship.

Prosecutors said James improperly steered properties to Riley, 38, and that she, with James's help, quickly resold them at much higher prices. Riley was able to buy the properties though she lacked real estate, construction and financial experience to rehabilitate the properties, according to the indictment.

Riley raised and donated campaign money for James and traveled internationally with him, enjoying vacations and meals partly funded by the city credit cards, the indictment charged. She will stand trial with him for land fraud charges only.

After being indicted in July, James and Riley pleaded not guilty to all charges and are free on bail. Prosecutors have said they expect the first trial to last as long as three months, with 40 to 50 witnesses expected.

Jury selection, which Zegas said he expects to take between one and two weeks, begins Tuesday.

The first trial likely won't have the salacious details of the second, where James is accused of using city-issued credit cards to pay for $58,000 worth of personal expenses while he was mayor, including trips with several women other than his wife, to Martha's Vineyard, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro.

The charges in the first trial are more serious because he is accused of abusing his office to provide Riley with unfair financial gain, said Robert A. Mintz, a former federal prosecutor with U.S. attorney's office in Newark

"This is the case that really matters to prosecutors," he said. "This is the case that goes to the heart of the government's allegations of corruption. That's why we're seeing it tried first."

Under federal advisory guidelines, James could face seven to eight years in prison if he is convicted on all counts. But a judge could impose a much stiffer penalty , as much as 20 years on some individual counts.

The trials will open a window into the inner workings of City Hall, which James ran from 1986 to 2006 before deciding not to seek a sixth term. He also served as a state senator from 1999 to January 2008, when he left office after not seeking re-election.

James was succeeded in Newark by political rival Cory A. Booker. In the 2002 mayoral race in which James prevailed, he and Booker waged a nasty campaign, documented in an Oscar-nominated film aptly called "Street Fight."

The trials could overshadow James' accomplishments as mayor, said Clement Alexander Price, a professor of history at the Newark campus of Rutgers University.

"For some people, Sharpe James will always be remembered as the most significant mayor after the near collapse of Newark in 1967," he said, referring to the city's deadly riots. "He helped to stabilize the city. His articulate rhetoric of optimism was infectious."

While the charges are severe, Price said they are "small potatoes" compared to other urban mayoral corruption cases.

"They strike me as more clumsiness on his part than deeply endowed corruption, like on the scale of the Addonizio administration or the boss Hague years," he said. Hugh J. Addonizio, who was Newark mayor in the 1960s, was convicted of extortion and conspiracy and served five years of a 10-year prison sentence; Frank Hague, a boss of Jersey City for much of the first half of the 20th century, never went to jail.

James is at least the fourth former Newark mayor to be charged with wrongdoing in the last 70 years. Only one, Addonizio, has gone to prison.

The U.S. Attorney's office has developed an extensive record fighting public corruption in New Jersey.

In the past several years, federal prosecutors garnered more than 100 public corruption convictions of elected and appointed officials and people doing business with them such as contractors.

They declined to comment about the upcoming trials.

But beyond James' legacy, if convicted he could lose his pensions, built up over decades as an elected official and as a former professor.

For his service as an elected leader in Newark, he collects an annual pension of about $111,000 after taxes, according to Newark officials.

He would also earn about $12,000 annually from his state Senate pension once he files for retirement; he accrued more than $1 million in a retirement account at Essex County College, where he worked two decades ago.

Treasury Department officials said James withdrew $500,000 from that retirement account last summer, and the pension director froze his account after his July indictment.

His pension would be revisited once the legal process runs its course, said Mark Perkiss, a Treasury Department spokesman.

What Sharpe's playmate told FBI

Friday, February 01, 2008
By JEFF WHELAN
NEWHOUSE NEWS SERVICE

The woman accused of conspiring with former Newark mayor Sharpe James to rig discounted city land deals told FBI agents he ordered city officials to set aside certain lots specifically for her to buy, according to evidence disclosed yesterday.

The alleged statements of Tamika Riley, a Jersey City businesswoman who faces trial along with James later this month, appear to contradict a key aspect of the mayor's defense - that he had no authority or influence over city land sales. His attorneys have argued the sales were controlled solely by the City Council.

The 38-year-old publicist also reportedly told agents she had an "intimate" and "phenomenal" relationship with the 71-year-old married mayor and met him at Newark hotels, but it ended over his jealousy of others' interest in her.

Riley's statements are described in FBI investigative reports - some of which were disclosed for a court hearing yesterday. Her attorney said agents interviewed her on seven occasions over a six-month period.

Riley later quit helping authorities and was indicted along with James last year on charges that the mayor illegally arranged for her to buy city land at a deep discount and resell it for $700,000 in profits.

Yesterday's hearing in federal court in Newark regarded whether her statements should be admissible at trial. Riley's lawyer, Gerald Krovatin, argued the statements were made involuntarily, under intimidation by the agents, and should be suppressed.

U.S. District Judge William Martini ruled them admissible, though he may order redactions - including direct references to James. Martini denied Krovatin's motion to suppress the statements, saying there was no evidence Riley spoke against her will.

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008 ... mes_land_fraud_trial.html

Sharpe James land fraud trial to start next month, judge says
by Jeff Whelan/The Star-Ledger
Tuesday January 15, 2008, 2:10 PM

Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James will go on trial on land fraud charges next month, prosecutors said today, leaving charges that he misused city credit cards for a later trial.

U.S. District Judge William Martini split the corruption case against James and his co-defendant, Tamika Riley, last week, saying he believed the land case against the both of them should go first.

He asked prosecutors for their preference and they agreed with him during a hearing in federal court in Newark today. Riley will also face related tax fraud charges in next month's trial. She was not charged in the credit card case, which alleged James billed the city for personal meals, trips and lavish vacations with female companions.

Martini also had ordered a third trial for Riley alone on charges that she lied about her income to qualify for public housing assistance in Jersey City. But at the urging of prosecutors, Martini today reversed that decision, saying those charges should be included in the land fraud trial next month.

The judge did so after Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Germano argued that to do otherwise would leave a "conceptual hole" in the government's case.

Riley and James were indicted last year on charges that James, also a former state senator, illegally arranged for Riley to buy city land at a steep discount and resell it for nearly $700,000 in profits. Authorities described Riley, a publicist and entrepreneur, as a "companion" of James.

Only financially qualified developers were supposed to participate in the city program in which the land deals were made, according to prosecutors. The indictment cited the fact that Riley was on public assistance at the time of the land deals as evidence that her "personal financial status was uncertain."

Germano said today the housing fraud charges against Riley were integral to the case. Martini said he was "annoyed" the government hadn't made that argument during previous hearings on the matter, but agreed and reversed his earlier decision.

"If you need public assistance it's hard to reasonably conclude you could be a qualified developer in the next town over," Martini said.

Germano told the judge she expected the land fraud trial to last up to three months and include testimony from up to 50 witnesses. It is scheduled to begin Feb. 26.

Judge gives Sharpe James partial victory

Jersey Journal
Thursday, December 20, 2007

NEWARK - A federal judge yesterday refused to dismiss charges against former Mayor Sharpe James, but agreed to remove language from the indictment that defense lawyers said would be prejudicial because of sexual connotations.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers must now offer suggestions on which words to use instead of "red light district" and "companions."

"I don't want this to be a sex trial," U.S. District Judge William J. Martini said during the pretrial hearing, adding that he did not know whether the evidence would show that James, who is married, was intimate with co-defendant Tamika Riley of Jersey City or other women he traveled with.

At Riley's request, the judge agreed to replace words she considered prejudicial, including "flipping" as it applied to real estate transactions, and "risky" with regard to her credit rating.

Martini also said that the Feb. 4 trial date would probably be pushed back.

James and Riley are black, and Riley lawyer Gerald Krovatin said he was concerned that Riley might be portrayed as a welfare cheat because she is accused of defrauding the state by getting six years of rental assistance for her home in Jersey City while participating in the land deals.

The high cost for some pussy!

Ex-Newark Mayor's Jersey City girlfriend goes to court on tax evasion charges

Ex-Newark Mayor Sharpe James indicted in land fraud scheme along with Tamika Riley, who sold the land

By Staff
July 22

(AXcess News) New York - Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James pled innocent to corruption charges relating to a scheme to profit from the resale of land and now Sharpe's girlfriend, Tamika Riley, will be in federal court Monday to face charges of fraud and tax evasion relating to the sale of land sale she and James allegedly swindled the city of Newark out of.

Charges of fraud against Riley stem from land she purchased from the city at discounted prices.

The indictment brought down against the ex-Newark Mayor charges that James improperly steered properties to Riley under a program for experienced, financially sound and qualified developers to buy blighted municipally-owned properties at a discount.

But according to prosecutors, Riley couldn't even pay her own rent, and she allegedly defrauded the state out of rental housing assistance for her home in Jersey City.

A Grand Jury handed down charges against the ex-Newark Mayor on July 12th for using city-issued credit cards for personal trips and expenses, and with engineering the sale of the properties to Riley. Prosecutors said Riley had accompanied Sharpe James on the out of town trips as well.

Riley had accompanied the ex-Newark Mayor on a trip to California and was said to have met with James at various motels, her home in Jersey City and summer home belonging to Sharpe, who is married.

The ex-Newark Mayor's girlfriend was also charged with tax evasion on the money she made by quickly reselling nine parcels of land for $665,000 when prosecutors said Riley only paid $46,000 and didn't redevelop them as required.

Riley's lawyer, Gerald Krovatin, said his client would plead not guilty when she appears in court Monday.

Cunningham letters sought by feds doing Sharpe James probe

Thursday, July 05, 2007
By JOURNAL STAFF
Newhouse News Service

AND WIRE REPORT

Federal investigators probing former Newark Mayor Sharpe James have asked for correspondence he had with the late Jersey City Mayor Glenn D. Cunningham.

Three years ago, James and Cunningham were the primary sponsors of state Senate bill S967, which gave James unbridled power in city land sales.

James, who is under investigation over cut-rate sales of surplus municipal real estate to politically connected friends and associates, pushed for the change in state law after a court rebuffed his challenge to the city council's bid to unilaterally give land to a Hispanic nonprofit group.

At the time, ranking Democrats said James, in his role as a state senator, had threatened to hold up the budget if the bill was not passed. Introduced in February 2004, it became law the following July.

The subpoena to the Senate - a copy of which was obtained by The Star-Ledger - seeks all documents and communications related to Senate Bill S967, as well as any correspondence from James and Cunningham, who was Jersey City's mayor and state senator. Cunningham's wife, Sandra Bolden Cunningham, will be the Democratic Party's candidate for the seat in November.

The U.S. Attorney's Office would not discuss the investigation, and calls to James and his lawyer, Raymond Brown Jr., were not returned. In a letter to the Associated Press, he said he could not "give away municipal land" and that the City Council brokered all deals with developers.

But the bill he sponsored as a senator mandated that a city council could not convey property unless first presented to the council by the mayor, "recognizing the authority of the mayor, as the chief executive officer of the municipality, to initiate those land purchase and sales decisions and determine the terms and conditions for acquisition and sale."

The law only covered municipalities with populations of 265,000 or more as of the last census; only Newark qualified.

staff writer Ted Sherman contributed to this report.

These crooks are all interconnected, no surprise there.

Feds probe James' land-sale law
Subpoena seeks records on for-Newark-only bill that mayor pushed through Senate

Wednesday, July 04, 2007
BY TED SHERMAN
Star-Ledger Staff

Federal investigators have subpoenaed Statehouse records tied to legislation spon sored three years ago by former Newark Mayor Sharpe James that gave him unbridled power in city land sales.

James, who is under investiga tion over cut-rate sales of surplus municipal real estate to politically connected friends and associates, pushed for the change in state law after a court rebuffed his challenge to the city council's bid to unilaterally give land to a Hispanic nonprofit group.

At the time, ranking Democrats said James, in his role as a state senator, had threatened to hold up the budget if the bill was not passed. Introduced in February 2004, it became law the following July.

The subpoena to the Senate -- a copy of which was obtained by The Star-Ledger -- seeks all documents and communications related to Senate Bill S967, as well as any correspondence from the two primary sponsors of the legislation, James and the late Jersey City Mayor Glenn Cunningham.

The U.S. Attorney's Office would not discuss the matter. Calls to James and his lawyer, Raymond Brown Jr., were not returned yesterday.

The grand jury subpoena, dated June 28, came just a day after the Associated Press reported that James was denying responsibility for the cut-rate city land deals now being investigated by the U.S. At torney's Office.

In a two-page, handwritten letter to the AP, James invoked the Faulkner Act -- the 1950 law that lays out powers for mayors -- in claiming he never had the authority to broker land deals or set prices by himself.

"The mayor is not a boss or a lord or can give away municipal land," he wrote. "Only the Council set prices, only the Council meet and interview developers, only the Council can convey land to developers."

But in 2004, the former mayor took steps to give himself a major role in the sales of city land, when he pushed to amend the law solely as it affected Newark.

The bill he sponsored as a senator mandated that the city council could not convey property unless first presented to the council by the mayor, "recognizing the authority of the mayor, as the chief executive officer of the municipality, to initiate those land purchase and sales decisions and determine the terms and conditions for acqui sition and sale." The change only covered municipalities with populations of 265,000 or more as of the last census; only Newark qualified.

In a June 2004 interview, James said he took the action to nullify a December 2002 resolution by the Newark City Council that approved the sale of a piece of city property to a nonprofit community group, La Case de Don Pedro, for a token $100.

"The council took the position that they could unilaterally decide to give land without any involvement from the mayor," James declared at the time. "This was wrong. It requires action from both of us."

The current federal investiga tion into the former mayor's deal ings started after The Star-Ledger reported last summer that James used two city-issued credit cards to pay for trips to Brazil, Puerto Rico and elsewhere.

The investigation later expanded to focus on Newark real es tate deals, following the discovery that one of James' travel companions, a publicist named Tamika Riley, made hundreds of thousands of dollars buying cheap property from the city of Newark and resel ling it, sometimes after just weeks.

Last summer, agents raided a storage garage rented by James, and city hall has since turned over hundreds of documents, including dozens related to the city land that Riley bought in 2001, 2002 and 2005.

In the last few weeks of James' tenure as mayor, the city sold several parcels of land at prices of about $4 per square foot -- far below market value -- to a number of politically connected developers. The city closed on 21 separate deals from March until James' final day as mayor on June 30, 2006.

James was notified by U.S. At torney Christopher Christie last month that he was the target of a federal grand jury investigation and could face corruption charges.

James, 71, opted not to run for re-election last year after serving 20 years as mayor, choosing to avoid repeating a bruising election battle with Cory Booker. In April, he said he would not run for re-election to his state Senate seat and recently stepped down from his job as direc tor of the Urban Issues Institute at Essex County College.

Booker says he now is looking to reclaim any parcels of city land sold by the previous administration to developers who have not built new homes on them as promised.

Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@starledger.com or (973) 392-4278.




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Feds subpoena Senate records on James land sale bill

Newsday
July 3, 2007, 9:55 PM EDT

TRENTON, N.J. -- Federal investigators have subpoenaed state Senate records related to a bill former Newark Mayor Sharpe James sponsored as a state senator that gave him broader power over sales of city land.

Jim Manion, spokesman for the Senate Democrats, confirmed Tuesday night that a subpoena was received June 28 seeking information and documents related to the bill James and the late Glenn Cunningham, a former state senator and mayor of Jersey City, pushed in 2004. It became law in July of that year.

The issuing of the subpoena was first reported by The Star-Ledger of Newark on its Web site.

The grand jury subpoena was issued one day after James, in a letter to The Associated Press, denied responsibility for a series of cut-rate city land deals now being investigated by the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In the letter to the AP, James insinuates that any blame for discounted land sales lies with the City Council.

During James' administration, more than 5,000 city-owned properties were sold at below-market prices, many to politically connected developers.

In March, federal investigators issued subpoenas seeking documents on dealings between James and a Newark businesswoman whose company purchased city-owned lots and sold them for a substantial profit while James was mayor.

After-hours messages left Tuesday at the offices of James and his lawyer, Raymond M. Brown, were not returned. James and Brown have previously declined to comment on the investigation.

James, 71, served as Newark mayor for 20 years before deciding not to seek re-election last year. In April, he decided not to seek re-election to his Senate seat.

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Information from: The Star-Ledger, http://www.nj.com/starledger