The Sharpe James Experience: UPDATE: Indicted

Sharpe James, Democrat political boss and the former Mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and a fixture in New Jersey politics may be facing his toughest fight yet.

Rumors have it that he's going to get indicted today on a wide range of charges.

For weeks, a federal grand jury in Newark has been considering evidence involving city land deals and travel expenses that James billed to the city while he was mayor, The Star-Ledger has reported. That grand jury meets Thursdays, so each week that day has brought more whispers an indictment could be imminent.

Sources, who asked not to be named because they are not authorized to publicly discuss the case, said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie and FBI officials have tentatively scheduled a news conference for this afternoon. Spokesmen for both offices declined to comment.

UPDATE:
It's official. He's indicted on 33 counts Here's the piece in its entirety. Note what's missing:

A federal grand jury indicted former Newark Mayor Sharpe James on corruption charges Thursday, accusing him of fraud in the sale of city-owned land and using city-issued credit cards to spend extravagantly on himself and several women.

The 33-count indictment charges James with fraud for allegedly facilitating and approving the cut-rate sales of city-owned land to a female companion.

James, 71, is also charged in the indictment with using the city-issued credit cards on himself and eight women during vacations and trips to locations such as Puerto Rico, Martha's Vineyard, the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie and state Attorney General Anne Milgram announced.

James was expected to turn himself in to the FBI and appear in federal court later Thursday.

What's missing? How about his party affiliation! He's a life long Democrat. How'd that miss being included in the report? Will wonders ever cease?

UPDATE:
Quote of the Day:

"This indictment is about as surprising as the sun rising in the morning," New Jersey Republican Party chairman Tom Wilson said. "Sharpe James hasn't had a private sector job in 30 years, yet managed to acquire a Rolls Royce, a yacht and a house on the water at the Jersey shore. All the while his colleagues in the Democrat party tolerated, celebrated and even promoted James' political power."

No, it most certainly wasn't surprising. James built up quite a loyal following because he doled out perks to his cronies, and Newark suffered for it.

UPDATE:
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UPDATE:
This longer AP piece does mention his party affiliation, but it takes until the seventh paragraph to do so. That's an improvement.

UPDATE:
The NYT has a pretty good article on the indictment, and notes his party affiliation in the fourth paragraph. It also notes that there is significant concern among Democrats that there might be a spillover effect.

Here's a copy of the indictment.

UPDATE:
An eagle eyed reader wonders whether I did my math right and found Democrat listed in the fourth paragraph. The link above (this one) does not mention his party affiliation until the 18th paragraph (and obliquely at that).

It would appear that I linked to the wrong article, as this one references the Democrats in the fourth paragraph (again, in an oblique manner).

Both NYT articles were written by David Kocieniewski.