Wayne Bryant Expects Indictment

State Sen. Wayne Bryant is expecting to be indicted today, his attorney said only moments ago.

Speaking at a forum in New Brunswick, prominent South Jersey defense attorney Carl Poplar said he expects a federal grand jury to return an indictment, but declined to comment further.

The U.S. Attorney's office earlier today issued an advisory saying only that a "significant announcement" relating to a "high level public official" was likely this afternoon.

Officials there would not comment.

New Jersey and corruption. Perfect together.

UPDATE:
The indictment has been handed down. Bryant, one of the most powerful political figures in Trenton, was indicted on charges of corruption and fraud. He wasn't alone in the indictment:

State Sen. Wayne Bryant was indicted by a federal grand jury in Trenton today on federal charges of corruption and fraud.

The influential Camden County Democrat was charged with using his position as a state senator to funnel millions of dollars in public funds to the state's medical university, after he was essentially given an no-show job to pad his pension.

He was also charged with defrauding the state's pension system.

Indicted with Bryant was a former dean at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, who helped put Bryant on the UMDNJ payroll in 2003 after Bryant helped lobby for his appointment as dean.

R. Michael Gallagher, who headed UMDNJ's School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, was reportedly looking to take advantage of Bryant's his political clout in an effort to obtain more state funding.

UMDNJ is an ongoing mess of corruption and just hired a new President who is charged with cleaning it up. Good luck in that mess as there's a pervasive culture of corruption extending from Trenton all the way through the school.

UPDATE:
Here's a copy of the 40 page indictment. It's a doozy. Among the lovely tidbits, we learn that Bryant supplemented his $49,000 salary. By nearly $600,000 per year for each of the years in question. That's right. He found a way to boost his salary to $649,000 through various schemes that come out of taxpayers' pockets, including a no-show job at UMDNJ.

The indictment is also interesting in that there is room for still others to be indicted. For example, on page 7, it notes that Bryant and Gallagher and others knowingly and willingly devised a scheme to defraud the state. I'd expect more indictments to be handed down as the investigation and legal process progresses.