Like history, corruption in New Jersey repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce.
Though the 1980s, many municipal governments were under control of the mob. The scope was huge; graft ran everything.
Today, mayors are still on the take — but it could be for something as ridiculous as breast implants. Fraud remains large. It’s the bribes that got small.
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“The feds may have broken the connection between organized crime and government, but that doesn’t mean they wiped away the culture of corruption,” said Ed Stier, a former director of New Jersey’s Division of Criminal Justice.
Over the past seven years, 16 Jersey mayors — 12 Democrats, four Republicans — have been arrested by the feds for accepting bribes, burying dirty cash in their back yards, even forging dinner receipts.
The latest case is in West New York, where last month the mayor was arrested by the FBI for hacking. Not for credit-card numbers or embezzlement, but to shut down the website calling for his recall.
Throw a stone across the river, and you’re bound to hit a politician on the take. Here, a guide to the small-time crimes of New Jersey’s small-town mayors.
Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo (R), 58, is currently facing extortion charges for allegedly taking $12,400 in bribes from a health-insurance broker in order to help it keep a contract with the Hamilton school board. He surrendered to the FBI in April and faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. But Bencivengo’s not going down without a fight. He’s pleading not guilty and vows to remain in office.
Atlantic City Mayor Bob Levy (D), 65, lasted about a year in office before simply disappearing for two weeks with no explanation. He resigned in 2007 after returning home from a psychiatric and substance-abuse clinic in Belle Mead, NJ, where he finally admitted he’d been hiding out. He later pleaded guilty for lying about his war record — he falsely claimed he had been a member of the US Army special forces — to boost his veterans benefits.
“He feels terrible,” his attorney said, as he was sentenced to three years’ probation for false statements and representations, fined $5,000 and ordered to pay $25,000 to the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Marlboro In this town, a zoning approval costs $245,000. Mayor Matthew Scannapieco (R) in 2005 pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from developer Anthony Spalliero, who even coached him on how to bury the money using a special powder that prevents rotting. In 2008, Scannapieco, who also left his wife for a go-go dancer, was sentenced to serve two years in prison. He was released in March 2010.
West Long Branch Hate the game, not the player. Gambling addict Paul Zambrano (D), 51, was arrested in 2005 — and immediately folded like a cheap lawn chair. He confessed to accepting $15,000 from an undercover FBI agent posing as a crooked contractor buying his influence. Mayor Zambrano immediately resigned from office. But he claimed he wasn’t in control of himself at the time. “I really feel bad for the people of West Long Branch,” he wailed on the courthouse steps after being sentenced to 366 days in a federal prison in 2007. “My gambling addiction is what it is.” He signed up for 80 sessions of an anti-gambling rehab program at Riverview Medical Center. He was released from prison in 2008 but is still banned from all Jersey casinos and racetracks.
Perth Amboy Last April, the longtime Mayor Joseph Vas (D), 57, was sentenced in to 6 1/2 years in jail for committing federal election fraud and stealing $450,000 of funds earmarked for affordable housing. Vas, who had served as mayor of the 50,814-person town from 1990 to 2008, is currently serving his prison sentence in Elkton, Ohio.
Keyport Mayor John Merla (D) was elected in 1990 as a fresh-faced, optimistic 28-year-old. By the time he was 30, he was arrested by the state on corruption charges, but eventually acquitted. In 2005, he was arrested again for accepting $24,000 in bribes from undercover agents. Merla refused to step down from office until 2007, when he finally pleaded guilty to one count of bribery. He was sentenced to 22 months in prison but was released early and spent the rest of his sentence in home confinement.
Orange Mayor Mims Hackett (D) forged receipts for travel and restaurants and billed them to the city while pocketing the dough. The only flaw in his plan was billing meals at restaurants that didn’t exist. He claimed he ate at a Lenny’s in Atlantic City and a Lenny’s in Memphis, Tenn. — but neither city has a restaurant named Lenny’s. Hackett, 70, was arrested by the feds in 2007 and admitted to also accepting a $5,000 bribe to steer a contract to Coastal Solutions LLC, a fake company made up by the FBI. In 2009, Hackett was sentenced to five years in prison but served less than a year.
Newark It was a sweetheart deal for his sweetheart. In 2008, longtime Newark Mayor Sharpe James (D), 76, was convicted on five counts of fraud by a federal jury for selling nine city properties to his former mistress, Tamika Riley, for the bargain price of $46,000 — and then letting her resell from for a whopping $665,000 without fixing up the lots. James served two years in a federal prison in Virginia and still enjoyed a hero’s welcome when he returned.
Hazlet He was so drunk, any inhibition about breaking the law went out the window. Mayor Paul Coughlin (R), 48, claimed that he was wasted when he accepted a $3,000 bribe from an FBI informant posing as a corrupt contractor in 2004. When he sobered up, he regretted his actions, according to his lawyer. But by then it was too late. Coughlin was charged with extortion, conspiracy and accepting a bribe and sentenced to two years in federal prison and released in 2008.
Paterson How much did it cost a construction firm to get $16 million worth of contracts out of corrupt Mayor Marty Barnes (R)? Only $350,000 in designer suits, lavish dinners, trips to a $400-a-night English castle, $1,000-a-night prostitutes in Rio — and the installation of a backyard pool, complete with waterfall.
Barnes, 64, the first black mayor of Paterson, claimed on the steps of a Newark courthouse that the unrelenting stress of his job had simply had him “bogged down.”
“I probably didn’t pay as much attention to other things that I should have,” he said in 2003 at his court hearing, pleading guilty to mail fraud and tax evasion. Barnes served 32 months behind bars.
Passaic Mayor Samuel “Sammy” Rivera (D) was charged with accepting a $5,000 bribe in exchange for insurance deals with the city. Rivera pleaded guilty and resigned on the spot. He served 16 months in a medium-security prison in Ohio and was released in February 2010 to a halfway house in New York City.
Secaucus In 2009, Mayor Dennis Elwell (D), 67, was arrested and charged with accepting a $10,000 cash bribe from an FBI informant who was posing as a shady hotel developer. Elwell was found guilty of bribery and is expected to report to federal prison in Butner, NC, next week to start serving his 29-month sentence.
Hoboken Forget Eliot Spitzer, the steamroller. Young buck Peter Cammarano III (D), 34, bragged to an undercover informant that he’d grind his political opponents “into powder.” But that plan was put on hold when he was arrested just 23 days after taking office in 2010. Mayor Cammarano pleaded guilty to taking $25,000 in illegal campaign contributions from an undercover FBI agent. Cammarano served two years in a federal prison in Pennsylvania and was released in March.
Ridgefield Mayor Anthony Suarez (D), 45, was arrested in 2009 and charged with accepting $10,000 in bribes from an undercover FBI agent posing as a crooked developer. In 2010, Suarez was found not guilty in a jury trial because he wasn’t caught on tape offering favors in exchange for cash. Today he is the only public official from the massive FBI sting where 44 people were arrested who remains in office.
Guttenberg It was all for a pair of fake boobs. Mayor David Delle Donna (D) and his wife, Anna (right, with their daughter Dorothy), used their political power to extort a local bar owner who didn’t want any more visits from town inspectors. Gifts to the mayor and his shady wife included $2,000 to foot the bill for a brand-new set of breasts for Anna, several thousand dollars for gambling in Atlantic City, a Yorkshire terrier named Toby and about $1,000 in Macy’s gift cards, according to the 2008 indictment. In total, the Della Donna’s took more than $40,000 in gifts. The couple, who also pleaded guilty to tax fraud, were both sentenced to more than four years in prison. Both are sitting behind bars in a Brooklyn lock-up, scheduled to be released in September.
West New York Cuban-born Mayor Felix Roque (D), 55, is accused of giving old-school New Jersey corruption a modern-day twist. Last month, Roque, with the help of his 22-year-old son, was charged with hacking into an opposition Web site, RecallRoque.com and shutting it down.
Roque, who splits his time between his medical practice and the mayor’s office, faces up to 11 years in prison and a $600,000 fine if he’s convicted on all counts. For now, Roque claims he’s not going anywhere.
“I’m an honest man,” Roque told The Post in an interview. “What happens going forward, we’ll see. If I’m guilty, I’m guilty.” According to the criminal complaint, Roque “would not have a problem with serving time in jail because he would work out and read while there.”