Monday, September 10, 2012

Trenton NJ Mayor Tony Mack, 6 Others Arrested In Federal Corruption Probe

Trenton New Jersey Mayor Tony Mack and six others have been arrested in connection with an ongoing federal corruption probe. The Trenton Democrat has been under investigation for the past several months, and the FBI had previously issued search warrants on the mayor's office, personal residence, and several locations of relatives to Mack.
Joseph "JoJo" Giorgianni, a top campaign contributor, and six others were also taken into custody. Specific charges against the suspects are expected to be outlined by Paul Fishman, the U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, later Monday.

Mack and the others arrested Monday were brought to the FBI office in Hamilton for processing and are scheduled to appear in federal court.

The arrests are the latest development in an ongoing federal investigation into alleged corruption within Mack's administration, which has been marked by accusations of nepotism and reckless spending. In July, FBI agents searched offices in Trenton City Hall a day after raiding the mayor's home. They also searched the home of his brother, Ralpiel Mack, and that of Giorgianni.

Mack's administration has been in turmoil from Day 1, staggering from one crisis to another. A housecleaning of staff at City Hall opened the door for Mack's own appointees, who quickly turned it into a revolving door. Some left over questions about their credentials, others to face criminal charges.
The arrests stem from $119,000 in bribes connected to a parking garage contract.
"The investigation revealed evidence of a conspiracy among the defendants and other to corrupt certain functions of Trenton City government in favor of a purported developer seeking to building a parking garage on City-owned property in exchange for cash payments totaling approximate $119,000, a total of $54,000 that the defendants actually accepted in one way or another and another $65,000 that they anticipated accepting," according to the criminal complaint filed today.

The complaint indicates the FBI had been investigating Mack since September 2010, just a few months after he took office. At least two cooperating witnesses are cited in the complaint and the FBI made extensive use of wire taps on the phones of Mack, Giorgianni and the cooperating witnesses.

The complaint also indicates there's a fourth "co-conspirator" named only as "CC-1" who was a Trenton city employee. That person has not been charged.

Mack was taken into custody at his Berkeley Avenue home in the city around 6:30 a.m., Woodruff said. Further charges in the public corruption are possible against Mayor Mack.

No comments: