Brings his total total sentence tally up to 14 1/2 years; former aide Melvin Ramos gets 7 years, 2 contractors get probation

Former Perth Amboy mayor Joseph Vas and his longtime aide Melvin Ramos were sentenced to prison Friday on corruption charges brought by the state attorney general’s office.

Two contractors who assisted them in the fraudulent scheme were sentenced to probation.

Vas, 56, who is also a former assemblyman, was sentenced to eight years in state prison, including five years without the possibility of parole, by state Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. in Freehold. Mellaci ordered Vas to pay $154,693 in restitution and a public corruption profiteering penalty of $250,000. Vas delivered a check to the court for $404,693 to cover the amounts. He also is permanently barred from public employment.

Vas pleaded guilty on Nov. 18 to two counts of official misconduct and one count each of theft by unlawful taking and money laundering. Vas admitted that he engaged in a series of corrupt schemes charged in two indictments obtained by the state Division of Criminal Justice in early 2009, including one scheme in which he and Ramos solicited an illicit payment of $58,000 from a city vendor, and a second in which they illegally funneled money into Vas’ congressional campaign via straw donors to evade campaign funding and reporting rules.

“Time after time, former mayor Vas demonstrated his propensity to engage in corrupt schemes,” Attorney General Paula T. Dow said. “He took an oath to serve the public, but instead he unlawfully exploited the power entrusted to him.”

“This prison sentence reflects the mandatory five-year period of parole ineligibility for official misconduct established in our enhanced state corruption laws,” state Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor said. “It also reflects our resolve to be aggressive in prosecuting corrupt public officials such as Joseph Vas.”

Ramos, 55, of Perth Amboy, was sentenced to seven years in prison by Judge Mellaci. Ramos pleaded guilty on Nov. 18 to conspiracy and money laundering. He is also permanently barred from public employment.

On Tuesday, Vas and Ramos were sentenced to federal prison on corruption charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Newark. Vas received 6 ½ years, and Ramos 37 months. Their state prison terms will run concurrently with their terms in federal prison.

Mellaci sentenced Frank Dominguez, 47, of Chester, and Richard Briggs, 50, of Long Valley, to three years of probation. Both were ordered to $7,500 criminal fines and perform 200 hours of community service. Dominguez and Briggs pleaded guilty on Aug. 3, to misconduct by a corporate official. Their company, Imperial Construction Group Inc. of Pine Brook, pleaded guilty to submission of false payment claims under a government contract.

At the direction of Vas and Ramos, Dominguez and Briggs submitted a false invoice for Imperial in order to obtain payment from the Perth Amboy government secretly reimbursing them for a $58,006 catering bill that they paid at Vas’ request. The bill, which was not authorized, was for a ribbon cutting ceremony on April 19, 2008 at the new Perth Amboy Public Safety-Court-Community Complex.

Dominguez and Briggs paid $58,006 in restitution to Perth Amboy after pleading guilty. They and Imperial are barred from public contracts in New Jersey for five years.

In addition to the scheme involving the catering bill, Vas and Ramos pleaded guilty to other criminal conduct charged in an indictment obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice on May 21, 2009.

Vas and Ramos admitted that between January and July 2006, they solicited city employees and others to make fraudulent contributions to Vas’ 2006 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives for the 13th Congressional District. Ramos admitted he paid cash to the people he solicited to reimburse them for writing personal checks payable to the campaign. They were guilty of money laundering because by structuring funds into the campaign through people who falsely appeared to be making personal contributions, they sought to avoid state and federal currency transaction reporting requirements for deposits into the campaign bank account.

In addition, Vas admitted that between May and November 2002, he accepted approximately $25,000 in masonry and paving work at his home, free of charge, from a city vendor, Jenicar Builders Contractors Co. Inc. Jenicar pleaded guilty on Aug. 26 to third-degree conspiracy to commit official misconduct and was ordered to pay a $45,000 fine.

Vas also admitted illegally obtaining $5,926 from the city by authorizing the submission to the city and approval of payment of a personal medical bill for $5,322 he received from the Mayo Clinic of Jacksonville, Fla., and a personal eyeglasses bill for $604 from LensCrafters.

In connection with a separate indictment returned on March 11, 2009, Vas admitted that he conspired with city employees from 2003 to 2007 to fraudulently obtain payment of approximately $5,000 from the Perth Amboy Recreation Department for his personal expenses. In addition, Vas admitted he rigged a public lottery so that his driver, Anthony S. Jones, 50, won the opportunity to buy an affordable home through the Perth Amboy Home Program. Charges against Jones in the indictment are pending.

Deputy Attorney General Dianne C. DiGiamber Deal represented the state at the sentencings. Deputy Attorney General Deal was assisted in prosecuting the case by Deputy Attorneys General Susan Kase and Pearl Minato. The investigation was conducted by Deal, Sgt. Dino Dettorre and Det. Benjamin Kukis, assisted by Lt. Daniel O'Brien, Sgt. Robert McGrath, Det. Lee Bailey, Det. melissa Calkin, Det. Lisa Cawley, Det. Shaun Egan, Det. Kiersten Pentony, Det. Robert Stemmer and Civil Investigator Joseph Salvatore.

-TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM