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TagsThe Corruption Bureau charged 70 cases, a 9 percent increase over 2008 and a 32 percent increase over 2007.
The Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau charged 161 cases, a 48 percent increase over both 2008 and 2007.
The Major Crimes Bureau charged 549 cases, a 7 percent increase over 2008, and a 72 percent increase over 2007.
The Division of Criminal Justice charged a total of 920 cases in 2009, exceeding 900 for the second straight year."Once again we substantially increased the cases we charged in three priority areas, namely rooting out public corruption, fighting street gangs and organized crime, and targeting those who commit financial fraud, particularly those who prey on vulnerable investors and homeowners," state Attorney General Anne Milgram said. "Our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit also increased its cases."
The Corruption Bureau obtained indictments charging three state Assemblymen, an Essex County freeholder, two former Atlantic City council members and other public officials. It sent two former mayors to prison for five years each, and took a guilty plea from a third former mayor calling for a minimum sentence of five years in prison without parole.
"We charged and resolved important cases this year, from indictments charging ballot fraud in a New Jersey Senate campaign in Essex County and a mayoral primary in Atlantic City, to the success of our Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau in securing lengthy prison sentences for leaders of street gangs and narcotics rings," Milgram said. "By indicting three state Assemblymen and securing prison sentences for three former mayors, we sent a strong message that we will not tolerate officials who betray the public and use their offices for personal gain or illicit activities.''
The Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau sent a leader of the violent Nine Trey Gangsters set of the Bloods to prison for 70 years; obtained life sentences for two leaders of a South Jersey drug ring; indicted an alleged pimp and six associates who ran a major human trafficking and prostitution ring in Jersey City; indicted 12 men for illegally trafficking guns later recovered by police in connection with crimes in New Jersey; and indicted 35 inmates for illegally possessing cell phones in prisons.
The Major Crimes Bureau sent a man to prison for 13 years for stealing $2.9 million through mortgage and investment scams; indicted four defendants for stealing over $1 million by using stolen identities to obtain mortgages and credit; indicted a father and son in a $4.5 million mortgage fraud; and indicted four men who stole $435,000 from the state by fraudulently obtaining tax refunds.
The Medicaid Fraud Control Unit filed charges in major cases, including indictments and guilty pleas involving 24 defendants in Essex County who engaged in a scheme to fraudulently bill Medicaid for HIV/AIDS drugs and other expensive medications, and the takedown of a major criminal narcotics network in Hudson County that distributed thousands of black-market OxyContin and Percocet pills.
The Division of Criminal Justice brought 920 cases this year, compared to 966 in 2008, 658 in 2007, and 594 in 2006.
Gramiccioni noted that the 920 cases were brought despite the net loss in 2009 of 19 attorneys and detectives and the requirement that all staff take five unpaid furlough days.
Cases are up 26 percent over 2005, when there were 38 more attorneys and 21 more detectives. There were 162 attorneys and 217 detectives in January 2006; there are 124 attorneys and 196 detectives now.
"For the second straight year, we charged well over 900 cases, and we did it with fewer people and fewer working days due to continued attrition, the state hiring freeze and five mandatory furlough days," Gramiccioni said. "Through the diligence of our staff, we are bringing more and higher quality cases in priority areas including corruption, gangs, financial crimes and Medicaid fraud. We are truly maximizing our resources to protect the people of New Jersey and serve their best interests."
The Corruption Bureau charged and resolved a number of important cases, including these:
- Assemblyman Joseph Vas (D-Middlesex), the former mayor of Perth Amboy, was named in two separate indictments that charged him with, among other things, rigging a public housing lottery so his personal driver could buy an affordable home; stealing approximately $5,000 in public funds to pay for personal purchases and expenses; illegally receiving $25,000 in home improvements free of charge from a city vendor; making illegal reimbursements to city employees for political contributions; and conspiring with another city vendor to have it pay the $58,000 catering bill for a ribbon-cutting at the city's new public safety, court and community complex.
- Assemblyman Anthony Chiappone (D-Hudson) and his wife, Diane, were charged with funneling $8,000 in state paychecks for legislative aides into their personal and campaign accounts, and failing to report the paychecks that went into the campaign to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission.
- Former Assemblyman Neil Cohen (D-Union) was charged in July in a superseding indictment that included a new count of possession of child pornography.
- Former Irvington mayor Michael Steele pleaded guilty in September to rigging school district contracts and taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks as business administrator for the Irvington Board of Education. The state will recommend a seven-year prison sentence including five years without possibility of parole.
- Former Orange mayor and former Assemblyman Mims Hackett Jr. (D-Essex) was sentenced in January to five years in state prison for fraudulently billing the City of Orange for more than $5,000 in travel expenses he never incurred.
- In July, the Division of Criminal Justice secured an Appellate Division decision increasing the sentence of former Carneys Point mayor John "Mack" Lake from three to five years in prison for attempting to bribe an opponent to drop out of the 2006 township committee race.
- Ten people, including Essex County Freeholder Samuel Gonzalez, were indicted for election fraud in connection with absentee ballots they collected and submitted as campaign workers in the 2007 campaign of state Senator Teresa Ruiz (D-Essex).
– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
