Sharpe James literally sold out his city to make his mistress a pile of cash, a federal prosecutor said yesterday at the opening of the 72-year-old former Newark mayor’s fraud trial.
With no qualifications or no experience in construction or development, Tamika Riley, 38 – who has referred to herself as James’ “$700,000 piece of ass” – managed to flip city-owned property for hundreds of thousands of dollars, the feds claim.
“He used and abused his position and office,” Assistant US Attorney Phillip Kwon told the seven men and five women on the Newark Federal Court jury. “He did so not because she was a developer [but] because she was his girlfriend.”
In all, James, who was a five-term mayor, is facing five charges, including fraud and conspiracy. Riley faces those charges and eight others, including tax evasion.
From 2001 to 2005, Kwon said in his opening statement, Riley, a public-relations exec from Jersey City, spent $46,000 to buy nine properties, then resold them for more than $660,000.
Kwon also ran down a litany of James’ other alleged abuses, including tens of thousands of dollar in unauthorized trips, services and entertainment – all at taxpayer expense.
“This wasn’t a one-time oversight; he did this over and over again,” Kwon said – as Riley, in a black pantsuit, boots and a pearl choker, sat just eight feet from her septuagenarian stud muffin and James’ wife, Mary, watched from a back row.