Is Governor McGreevey "State Official 1"???

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — A Democratic fund-raiser linked to Gov. James E. McGreevey extorted $40,000 in campaign donations by promising a farmer that public officials would help him get top dollar for his land, federal authorities said Tuesday.

Carteret businessman David D'Amiano is charged with extortion, mail fraud and bribery. According to an indictment released Tuesday, D'Amiano told the owner of a Piscataway farm he would not get premium value for his property unless he made donations to the Democratic Party.

Middlesex County officials had offered Mark Halper $3 million for development rights to his 74-acre family farm, a dilapidated dairy operation surrounded by strip malls and highways. After D'Amiano got involved, that offer rose to $7.4 million, according to the indictment.

D'Amiano, 45, of Edison, who owns a recycling and mulch business in Carteret, did not enter a plea during an arraignment Tuesday in federal court in Newark. He was released after posting a $100,000 bond.

His lawyer, Edward J. Plaza, said he would plead not guilty. "Mr. D'Amiano did not bribe anyone," Plaza said.

McGreevey is not named in the 41-page, 11-count indictment. He has acknowledged discussing the land matter with D'Amiano and Halper, but has denied any wrongdoing.

McGreevey said he believes he is one of the unnamed state officials mentioned throughout the indictment who discussed the land deal with Halper and D'Amiano. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie would not say whether McGreevey was one of the officials.

"I'm not going to comment on any other people who may or may not be involved in this investigation. We do not identify anyone by name who is not being charged in the indictment," Christie said.

The indictment says "State Official 1" discussed the deal with D'Amiano and Halper during a cell phone conversation in December 2002. "State Official 1" also met with Halper and D'Amiano in a hallway outside a state Democratic meeting at an East Brunswick hotel in February 2003, according to the indictment.

McGreevey has acknowledged that the meeting took place, but said he did nothing wrong.

=> Read the US Attorney indictment at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nj/publicaffairs/NJ_Press/break.html

NJ political fundraiser D'Amiano indicted

Tuesday, July 6, 2004
THE RECORD

VIEW THE D'AMIANO INDICTMENT (PDF file, 65k)

NEWARK - Political fundraiser David D'Amiano was indicted today on extortion charges, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

TEXT OF U.S. ATTORNEY'S PRESS RELEASE FOLLOWS:

NEWARK - A New Jersey political fundraiser was indicted today on extortion charges for allegedly demanding and accepting $40,000 in political contributions and cash from a Piscataway farm owner to influence state and county officials to more than double an offer to preserve the farmland, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

The 11-count Indictment unsealed today describes how the original offer of approximately $3 million to buy the development rights of the Piscataway farmland rose to potentially $7.4 million, following the intervention of fundraiser David D'Amiano, and the involvement of two top state officials and several Middlesex County officials.

D'Amiano, 45, is a member of a state political party finance committee and the owner of a Carteret recycling and mulch business. D'Amiano will voluntarily surrender today to Special Agents of the FBI and is expected to make an initial appearance this afternoon before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. A news conference with Christie is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.

After D'Amiano had received most of the installments of the $40,000 in extortionate payments in June 2003, D'Amiano began negotiating for more payoffs in connection with another property owned by the farm owner and others in Piscataway, according to the Indictment. Those demanded payments, which were never made, varied from $25,000 in political contributions and $25,000 in cash to as much as $35,000 in contributions and $35,000 in cash. Those payments were allegedly intended by D'Amiano to buy his influence with state, county and local officials to get the township to allow the development of a bank - a use that had been disallowed by the township - on property on Stelton Road in Piscataway.

D'Amiano is also charged with diverting campaign contributions from the state political committee's treasury, with some going into a personal account. (See addendum for specific charges and potential criminal penalties for all counts of the Indictment.)

"The allegations in this Indictment paint a vivid picture of the corrupt and broken political system in New Jersey," Christie said. "The alleged conduct puts on display the belief that some persons in New Jersey still hold - that every action by government is for sale."

D'Amiano had frequent in-person and telephone contacts with at least five state and Middlesex County elected and appointed officials throughout the course of his scheme to extort the cash and political contributions, according to the Indictment. Throughout the period, the farm owner was cooperating with the FBI and recording conversations.

Among those officials described in the Indictment is a high-ranking official identified in the Indictment only as "State Official 1." Others include a subordinate, State Official 2, and an elected county official, identified as County Official 1, who had two subordinate appointed officials beneath him, identified in the Indictment as County Officials 2 and 3.

The Indictment alleges cash payments and political donations solicited and demanded by D'Amiano as follows:

• $10,000 in cash from the farm owner at a Dec. 12, 2002, meeting at D'Amiano's business in Carteret.

• a $10,000 check payable to the state political party's Victory Fund, post-dated Dec. 23, written on the same day, at the same meeting at D'Amiano's business.

• a $5,000 check to the Victory Fund, written by the farm owner and handed to D'Amiano at D'Amiano's business office on Jan. 28, 2003.

• $5,000 in cash to D'Amiano during a Feb. 19, 2003, meeting with the farm owner and an unidentified co-schemer. Later, D'Amiano is recorded saying that everything was moving forward and that the farm owner would be happy.

• $5,000 check, payable to the Victory Fund, to D'Amiano on May 23, 2003, during a meeting at D'Amiano's office.

• $2,500 in cash accepted by D'Amiano in Piscataway on June 27, 2003

• $2,500 in cash accepted by D'Amiano at D'Amiano's business office, on July 30, 2003

To authenticate political connections D'Amiano said that he had - and to assure the farm owner that D'Amiano and others in state and county government could deliver on the farmland preservation deal - D'Amiano and the cooperating witness agreed upon a code word that the key individuals involved could communicate to him. That word, "Machiavelli," was said by State Official 1 and County Official 3 to the farm owner during face-to-face meetings, according to the Indictment.

For example, at a Feb. 18, 2003, meeting of the finance committee for the state political party, held at an East Brunswick hotel, D'Amiano introduced the farm owner to State Official 1, according to the Indictment. At that meeting, State Official 1 said he understood the problem the farm owner was facing in Piscataway and said the code word. State Official 1 then introduced the farm owner to State Official 2 and asked her to follow up.

D'Amiano repeatedly warned the farm owner to come through with all cash and checks as agreed, or to be prepared to face the financial consequences of not doing so, according to the Indictment.

D'Amiano frequently used veiled references and code to refer to the public officials with whom he was dealing on the farm owner's behalf. Often, D'Amiano would "pat down" the farm owner to be sure he wasn't concealing a recording device, according to the Indictment.

In one recorded conversation on Nov. 26, 2002, D'Amiano reminded the farm owner that his payment was an "intricate part of everything," and that if the farm owner did not pay, he was "going to get f___d in the end."

On May 21, 2003, after all but $10,000 of the $40,000 in cash payments and political donations had been made, D'Amiano, the farm owner and County Official 2 and County Official 3 met at the Middlesex County Administration Building in New Brunswick to negotiate for farmland preservation, according to the Indictment. At this meeting, County Official 2 observed that the county would be willing to make an offer of $7.4 million for the development rights and would have to come back with a higher appraisal to justify the new offer. (The previous offer to buy the developments rights of the farm was $3 million, made in 2002).

County Official 3 observed, according to the Indictment, that $100,000 an acre for the 74 acres of land was well outside the "edge" of his "envelope" and that it would not be offered if there were not "extraneous circumstances involved."

An Indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy, Jr., in Newark, with developing the case against D'Amiano.

The case is being prosecuted by James Nobile, Chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office Special Prosecutions Division, and Senior Litigation Counsel John Fietkiewicz, of the Special Prosecutions Division.

Democratic fund-raiser indicted

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

VIEW THE D'AMIANO INDICTMENT (PDF file, 65k)

VIEW THE U.S. ATTORNEY'S PRESS RELEASE

NEWARK - Federal prosecutors leveled charges of extortion, bribery, and fraud Tuesday against former Democratic fund-raiser David D'Amiano in a 47-page indictment that raises ominous clouds over Governor McGreevey.

The 11-count indictment, unsealed at U.S. District Court here, describes in vivid detail how D'Amiano allegedly extorted $40,000 in cash and political contributions from a Piscataway farmer who was seeking to save his land from condemnation.

D'Amiano, the indictment suggests, capitalized on his status as a key fund-raiser to arrange an extraordinary series of private meetings with Middlesex County officials and the governor himself. The meetings led to a lucrative preservation offer for Cornell Dairy Farm owner Mark Halper.

The fund-raiser did not know, however, that Halper was secretly working with the FBI to tape-record conversations that will now become key evidence in one of the biggest public corruption cases in recent state history. Those conversations, as detailed in the indictment, show a furtive and paranoid D'Amiano obsessed with the use of code words and the cloak-and-dagger aspect of secret deal-making.

DAVID M. D'AMIANO:

AGE: 45

RESIDENCE: Edison

FAMILY: Married to an orthodontist

EDUCATION

Raised in Middlesex County and attended Seton Hall Prep. Graduated from Rutgers University-Newark in 1981 with a degree in zoology.

Moved to Guadalajara, Mexico, and earned a medical degree. Did not land a residency, and returned home to work for his father's pallet-recycling and mulch company in Linden.
BUSINESS
Took over the family company in the early 1990s, after his brother died in an accident there and after his father's death. He branched out, expanded the workforce, and created several subsidiaries.
Back taxes on the property mounted during the 1990s. The federal government placed more than $2 million in liens on the property.
Ran afoul of the National Labor Relations Board, which investigated accusations that the company retaliated against employees who wanted to unionize. An administrative law judge ruled that the company violated a number of fair labor practices.
State Department of Labor obtained a $348,000 judgment against the company for failing to pay unemployment and disability insurance for employees between 1998 and 2003.
POLITICS
Reconnected with boyhood friend James E. McGreevey in the mid-1990s and helped raise money for McGreevey's first run for governor in 1997. Emerged as a little-known but productive fund-raiser, becoming a member of McGreevey's 1997 finance committee for a major West Orange fund-raising event.
Listed in the "top 10 percent'' of fund-raisers for the Democratic State Committee, which is controlled by McGreevey, federal authorities say.
Gained access to the governor's office after McGreevey's election in 2001. Often sought favors for friends, family members, and other businesspeople, according to documents released by the governor's office in March.

While McGreevey is not named in the indictment, the governor acknowledged Tuesday that he is one of two unnamed state officials who are described as meeting with D'Amiano and Halper about the future of the farm.

But McGreevey said the five-minute meeting at the East Brunswick Hilton in February 2003 was merely a courtesy such as he extends to many constituents. The governor denied any wrongdoing and insisted that he never even spoke to any Middlesex County officials about Halper's farm.

"I said at the outset that I was confident that my administration acted ethically, appropriately, and legally, and I stand by that statement," the governor told reporters after a bill-signing ceremony in Camden County.

The governor called on U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie to release all recordings so the public can hear them in context. But a Christie spokesman said the tapes would not be released.

Uttering code words

In the indictment, McGreevey appears to be sympathetic to the plight of Halper's 75-acre farm, which has been the subject of a condemnation bid by the township of Piscataway since 1999. In two brief meetings with Halper and one phone call, the governor directs Halper to meet with county officials who can help him.

The most intriguing - and bizarre - aspect of the indictment was its description of the February 2003 meeting between McGreevey, Halper, D'Amiano, and an unnamed aide to the governor, identified by sources as Amy Mansue, former deputy chief of staff.

A few hours before the meeting, D'Amiano promised Halper that he would arrange for one of the state officials to use the secret code word "Machiavellian" during the conversation, the indictment says. The code word would reassure the farmer that the officials were sympathetic and could deliver on their promise to preserve his farm.

McGreevey did indeed refer to the Italian Renaissance philosopher and his famous book on cutthroat politics within minutes of meeting Halper. In introducing Halper to Mansue, McGreevey pointed out that the farmer was reading from "The Prince" by Machiavelli to learn how to deal with the farm negotiations, the indictment says.

On Tuesday, McGreevey acknowledged dropping the philosopher's name during his meeting with Halper, but said it was only an innocent reference.

"It was not a code word," the governor said. "It was a literary allusion. In New Jersey politics, 'Machiavelli' is not a far-off, remote word."

A GLOSSARY:

Federal officials say fund-raiser David D'Amiano, who allegedly extorted campaign cash from Middlesex County farmer Mark Halper, used colorful shorthand and code words on his own or to communicate with others. Here is a sample of the allegations from Tuesday's indictment:

"MACHIAVELLIAN" - A code word used by officials connected with D'Amiano to signal that they were aware of efforts to provide favorable treatment to Halper's farm. At a brief meeting with Halper on Feb. 18, 2003, McGreevey also used the word "Machiavelli."

"MULCH AND TOPSOIL" - Refers to $20,000 in campaign contributions and $20,000 in cash payments that D'Amiano allegedly demanded from Halper. In exchange, D'Amiano reportedly agreed to use his influence to help Halper get a better deal for his farm.
"THREE NICKELS" - Refers to $15,000 that D'Amiano was allegedly still seeking from Halper in February 2003.
"DISNEYLAND" - Another code word D'Amiano said would be used by Middlesex County officials to signal that they had completed their work on behalf of Halper.
"275 ON TOP ... OF THE TABLE" - Refers to an amount of money D'Amiano says he raised for officials he was negotiating with on behalf of Halper.

Christie, a Republican appointee who met with reporters here after the indictment was unsealed, carefully navigated the political implications. He refused to name either of the two top state officials or three Middlesex County officials, all of whose voices appear on the tapes.

Christie painted D'Amiano as one more example of New Jersey's rampant problem of public corruption, which includes Republicans like James Treffinger, the former Essex County executive who is in federal prison on bribery charges.

"This is the latest chapter in the book we've been writing over the past 2½ years," Christie said. "The system in this state is corrupt and broken and not just as it applies to this case."

The investigation is ongoing, Christie said.

"If any charges are brought against other people, they will be brought at the appropriate time," he said. "I'm not going to comment on any other people who may or may not be involved."

D'Amiano, a 45-year-old recycler and mulch dealer from Carteret who raised $100,000 as a member of McGreevey's elite fund-raising committee, is the second close associate of the governor to come under investigation for using intimidation in raising campaign cash for state Democrats.

Ex-cabdriver Roger Chugh, who became a member of McGreevey's administration, is being probed for, among other things, shaking down shop owners in the Little India section of Woodbridge.

A two-year probe

At a brief afternoon appearance in U.S. District Court in Newark, D'Amiano stood in a slightly wrinkled navy suit and barely spoke, other than to say, "Yes, your honor," to Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo.

D'Amiano was released on $100,000 bond, secured by two rental properties he owns in Woodbridge. His travel was restricted to New Jersey and New York City, and he was ordered to turn over any weapons and his passport.

D'Amiano's lawyers said their client would plead not guilty, but refused to comment on the charges, saying they just received the indictment Tuesday morning.

Federal agents tried to arrest D'Amiano early Tuesday morning at his home in Edison, but left without making the arrest. They instead arranged for D'Amiano to turn himself in later in the day, said Christie spokesman Michael Drewniak.

In addition to four counts of mail and wire fraud, D'Amiano faces two counts of extortion and a single bribery count. Conviction on any of the counts could bring him a five- to 20-year prison term and a $250,000 fine.

D'Amiano also is charged with pocketing contributions that he should have forwarded to the Democratic State Committee. And in another alleged scheme, D'Amiano sought to extort money from Halper that would be used to buy special favors from Piscataway officials concerning development of a commercial bank on a parcel owned by Halper.

Christie would not describe the origins of the investigation nor say how his office first came into contact with Halper. In media interviews, however, sources close to the two-year probe said the farmer initiated contact with the FBI.

Halper was helping investigators gather evidence from early in 2002, sources have said.

Halper's strained and colorful relationship with D'Amiano, and the fund-raiser's alleged attempts to squeeze money from the farmer, are at the heart of the indictment. D'Amiano demanded direct cash payments to himself or political donations to the Democratic State Committee between December 2002 and July 2003, the indictment says.

That was the price, D'Amiano explained, for getting an audience with top policymakers in Trenton and Middlesex County who would help Halper preserve his farm. Halper eventually paid the entire $40,000 he had promised D'Amiano, but not fast enough for the fund-raiser, the indictment says.

At one point, D'Amiano tells the farmer that he will "really be |f-----d" if he doesn't pay up. Another time, D'Amiano warns that an unnamed party - identified in the indictment only as a "co-schemer" - would "bury" him "20 miles beneath the Pacific Ocean" if he doesn't pay up.

D'Amiano succeeded in lining up more than a dozen meetings and phone calls with sympathetic officials, according to the indictment. Among them:

Dec. 20, 2002: D'Amiano meets with McGreevey in Princeton and speaks to Halper by telephone. The governor tells the farmer to "double back" and press his case with Middlesex County officials.

Jan. 23, 2003: Halper and D'Amiano meet with Middlesex County officials at D'Amiano's Carteret office. The officials, who are considering paying the farmer $7.3 million for the development rights to his farm, use the code word "Machiavellian." D'Amiano is setting up another meeting with a powerful former state senator referred to by the code name "bridge boy."
August 2003: D'Amiano meets at a McDonald's with a high- ranking Middlesex County official to finalize the deal. A few weeks later, McGreevey meets Halper and D'Amiano again at a Florham Park fund-raiser organized by a small group of trash haulers. A deal to offer Halper $7.4 million is agreed upon even though one key county official would say that the amount exceeded his "comfort level."
The amount was $3 million more than a previous offer to Halper from a state farmland preservation program. But the deal was never completed.
Throughout the negotiations, D'Amiano is constantly bickering with the farmer and fearful that Halper is secretly taping him. Before almost every meeting, D'Amiano frisks the farmer. He also insists that Halper speak in cryptic phrases and communicate in writing, the indictment says.
At one point, D'Amiano tells Halper that it will cost him $35,000 in contributions and $35,000 in cash to stop a Piscataway vote on a certain zoning issue. The fund-raiser later complains, however, that he had gotten few favors from township officials even though he raised $275,000 in contributions "on top of the table" and other "stuff under the table."
D'Amiano emerged on New Jersey's public stage during McGreevey's first run for governor in 1997, and he raised more than $100,000 during McGreevey's successful 2001 campaign. McGreevey's formidable fund-raising operation broke state records, generating $28.2 million for the Democratic State Committee in 2001.
However, few New Jersey Democratic Party insiders and regulars on the McGreevey fund-raising circuit say they knew D'Amiano, and many insist they had never even heard of him until the probe became public when the FBI raided the state Democratic headquarters in Trenton on March 2.
McGreevey has said that D'Amiano was a casual acquaintance from his teenage years in Carteret and that their friendship was rekindled when McGreevey became mayor of Woodbridge in 1991.
But internal official memoranda released by the governor's office in March suggested that a deeper bond had developed between the two men, and in several documents, D'Amiano is referred to as McGreevey's "old friend."
Staff Writers Josh Gohlke and Clint Riley contributed to this article. E-mail: pillets@northjersey.com

TIMELINE:
D'AMIANO CASE TIMELINE
Here are some of the key events alleged in the federal indictment of Democratic Party fund-raiser David D'Amiano:
2002
August - Piscataway farm owner Mark Halper and other family members reject an offer of $3 million to preserve their property as farmland. Township officials begin condemnation proceedings to seize the property.
Nov. 10 - David D'Amiano tells Halper, a business associate, that Halper would have to pay $20,000 in cash and $20,000 in political contributions to the Democratic State Committee to gain approval for farmland preservation at a favorable price. D'Amiano says he could arrange a meeting with "state official 1," identified by sources as Governor McGreevey.
Nov. 17-22 - D'Amiano tells Halper there was a "real deal" in place regarding the farm and that a meeting with McGreevey would occur. D'Amiano tells Halper to bring the money to the meeting or deliver it soon to D'Amiano.
Dec. 12 - D'Amiano demands and receives a $10,000 cash installment from Halper - and a $10,000 check payable to the Democratic State Committee's Victory Fund, postdated Dec. 23 - during a meeting at D'Amiano's business. At the meeting, Halper tells D'Amiano to arrange for one of the Piscataway officials at an upcoming meeting to indicate that they knew a favorable deal was in place by using the code word "Machiavellian."
2003
Jan. 13 - D'Amiano tells Halper that he has arranged a meeting with him with two unnamed Middlesex County officials at D'Amiano's offices.
Jan. 23 - During the meeting, one county official uses the code word "Machiavellian," saying he did not think the county's motives in the negotiations were "Machiavellian."
Jan. 24 - D'Amiano presses Halper for further payment, stating that Halper had to make D'Amiano "look right in Trenton." D'Amiano also says that a Democratic State Committee official knew the meeting had taken place and therefore the payment had to be turned over.
Jan. 28 - A $5,000 check to the Democrats' Victory Fund is written by Halper and handed to D'Amiano at his Carteret office.
Feb. 18 - After a Democratic State Committee finance committee session at an East Brunswick hotel, D'Amiano, McGreevey, and Halper meet in a hallway. During the brief meeting, McGreevey calls for and asks "state official 2" [former Deputy Chief of Staff Amy Mansue] to follow up. In introducing her to Halper, McGreevey uses the word "Machiavelli."
Feb. 19 - Halper gives D'Amiano a $5,000 cash installment. D'Amiano also is recorded saying that everything was moving forward and the farm owner would be happy.
May 21 - After all but $10,000 of the $40,000 in payments had been made, D'Amiano, Halper, and unidentified county officials meet to negotiate for farmland preservation. One official says the county would be willing to make an offer of $7.4 million, or more than double the original offer.
Sept. 16 - Middlesex County officials suggest to Halper that the farmland preservation deal could be done if Halper agreed to accept $7.35 million, with certain conditions regarding the use of the farm. Halper wants to negotiate the uses. D'Amiano also tells Halper that the price is "confirmed" and that nothing could have been accomplished without the help of McGreevey.
October - Indictment states that Halper could not get farm deal finalized because he could not coordinate schedules with county officials.
TEXT OF U.S. ATTORNEY'S PRESS RELEASE:
back to top
NEWARK - A New Jersey political fundraiser was indicted today on extortion charges for allegedly demanding and accepting $40,000 in political contributions and cash from a Piscataway farm owner to influence state and county officials to more than double an offer to preserve the farmland, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
The 11-count Indictment unsealed today describes how the original offer of approximately $3 million to buy the development rights of the Piscataway farmland rose to potentially $7.4 million, following the intervention of fundraiser David D'Amiano, and the involvement of two top state officials and several Middlesex County officials.
D'Amiano, 45, is a member of a state political party finance committee and the owner of a Carteret recycling and mulch business. D'Amiano will voluntarily surrender today to Special Agents of the FBI and is expected to make an initial appearance this afternoon before a U.S. Magistrate Judge. A news conference with Christie is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. at the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.
After D'Amiano had received most of the installments of the $40,000 in extortionate payments in June 2003, D'Amiano began negotiating for more payoffs in connection with another property owned by the farm owner and others in Piscataway, according to the Indictment. Those demanded payments, which were never made, varied from $25,000 in political contributions and $25,000 in cash to as much as $35,000 in contributions and $35,000 in cash. Those payments were allegedly intended by D'Amiano to buy his influence with state, county and local officials to get the township to allow the development of a bank - a use that had been disallowed by the township - on property on Stelton Road in Piscataway.
D'Amiano is also charged with diverting campaign contributions from the state political committee's treasury, with some going into a personal account. (See addendum for specific charges and potential criminal penalties for all counts of the Indictment.)
"The allegations in this Indictment paint a vivid picture of the corrupt and broken political system in New Jersey," Christie said. "The alleged conduct puts on display the belief that some persons in New Jersey still hold - that every action by government is for sale."
D'Amiano had frequent in-person and telephone contacts with at least five state and Middlesex County elected and appointed officials throughout the course of his scheme to extort the cash and political contributions, according to the Indictment. Throughout the period, the farm owner was cooperating with the FBI and recording conversations.
Among those officials described in the Indictment is a high-ranking official identified in the Indictment only as "State Official 1." Others include a subordinate, State Official 2, and an elected county official, identified as County Official 1, who had two subordinate appointed officials beneath him, identified in the Indictment as County Officials 2 and 3.
The Indictment alleges cash payments and political donations solicited and demanded by D'Amiano as follows:
• $10,000 in cash from the farm owner at a Dec. 12, 2002, meeting at D'Amiano's business in Carteret.
• a $10,000 check payable to the state political party's Victory Fund, post-dated Dec. 23, written on the same day, at the same meeting at D'Amiano's business.
• a $5,000 check to the Victory Fund, written by the farm owner and handed to D'Amiano at D'Amiano's business office on Jan. 28, 2003.
• $5,000 in cash to D'Amiano during a Feb. 19, 2003, meeting with the farm owner and an unidentified co-schemer. Later, D'Amiano is recorded saying that everything was moving forward and that the farm owner would be happy.
• $5,000 check, payable to the Victory Fund, to D'Amiano on May 23, 2003, during a meeting at D'Amiano's office.
• $2,500 in cash accepted by D'Amiano in Piscataway on June 27, 2003
• $2,500 in cash accepted by D'Amiano at D'Amiano's business office, on July 30, 2003
To authenticate political connections D'Amiano said that he had - and to assure the farm owner that D'Amiano and others in state and county government could deliver on the farmland preservation deal - D'Amiano and the cooperating witness agreed upon a code word that the key individuals involved could communicate to him. That word, "Machiavelli," was said by State Official 1 and County Official 3 to the farm owner during face-to-face meetings, according to the Indictment.
For example, at a Feb. 18, 2003, meeting of the finance committee for the state political party, held at an East Brunswick hotel, D'Amiano introduced the farm owner to State Official 1, according to the Indictment. At that meeting, State Official 1 said he understood the problem the farm owner was facing in Piscataway and said the code word. State Official 1 then introduced the farm owner to State Official 2 and asked her to follow up.
D'Amiano repeatedly warned the farm owner to come through with all cash and checks as agreed, or to be prepared to face the financial consequences of not doing so, according to the Indictment.
D'Amiano frequently used veiled references and code to refer to the public officials with whom he was dealing on the farm owner's behalf. Often, D'Amiano would "pat down" the farm owner to be sure he wasn't concealing a recording device, according to the Indictment.
In one recorded conversation on Nov. 26, 2002, D'Amiano reminded the farm owner that his payment was an "intricate part of everything," and that if the farm owner did not pay, he was "going to get f___d in the end."
On May 21, 2003, after all but $10,000 of the $40,000 in cash payments and political donations had been made, D'Amiano, the farm owner and County Official 2 and County Official 3 met at the Middlesex County Administration Building in New Brunswick to negotiate for farmland preservation, according to the Indictment. At this meeting, County Official 2 observed that the county would be willing to make an offer of $7.4 million for the development rights and would have to come back with a higher appraisal to justify the new offer. (The previous offer to buy the developments rights of the farm was $3 million, made in 2002).
County Official 3 observed, according to the Indictment, that $100,000 an acre for the 74 acres of land was well outside the "edge" of his "envelope" and that it would not be offered if there were not "extraneous circumstances involved."
An Indictment is merely an accusation. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in court.
Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Joseph Billy, Jr., in Newark, with developing the case against D'Amiano.
The case is being prosecuted by James Nobile, Chief of the U.S. Attorney's Office Special Prosecutions Division, and Senior Litigation Counsel John Fietkiewicz, of the Special Prosecutions Division.

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