BEFORE Tamika Riley upon her arrest.
AFTER Tamika Riley after she got a defense lawyer (note the demure pearls).
Posted on 12/14/2007 5:44:55 AM PST by Calpernia
Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James billed the city for pornographic movies and body lotions while staying at a Miami hotel, prosecutors allege, according to documents recently filed in federal court.
The disclosures shed new light on how the government may be planning to prove its case against James, who was indicted on corruption charges last July after 20 years as mayor of the state's largest city.
The government also alleges that James:
- Chose which developers could buy property in Newark, rewarded those who gave him tickets to sporting events and "swapped" city land with a developer who steered property outside city limits to his son.
- Used City Hall for a "yacht club" where powerful people were escorted in for meetings and parties by city police officers who used police vehicles while mayoral secretaries acted as "servers."
- Gave a no-show job to a 32-year-old man who subsequently was arrested on drug charges this year.
(Excerpt) Read more at nj.com ...
Still in the cross hairs of federal prosecutors are a half-dozen members of the state Legislature, including Sen. Joseph Coniglio of Bergen County, as well as U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez of Hoboken and people connected to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark. State Sen. Wayne Bryant, who was in federal court Friday, is awaiting trial.
For those suspected of using taxpayer money for personal benefit, it's an inconvenient truth: More than at any other time in the past three decades, public corruption has been a primary focus of federal and state crime fighters.
"I think scrutiny on corrupt politicians is as intense as it's ever been," said Walter Timpone, a defense attorney and former federal prosecutor. "And politicians ought to be cautious to look carefully at their actions before those actions cause them to cross lines -- either intentionally or unintentionally."
James, the former mayor of Newark and a sitting state senator, is tagged by U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie has netted more than 100 public-corruption convictions in six years, including some of the state's most powerful politicians.
A grand jury indicted James on charges of using taxpayer dollars to take lavish trips to exotic locales and charging them to city credit cards. It also charged him with defrauding taxpayers by selling discounted city land for profits -- benefiting a female companion.
Christie was asked whether the former five-term mayor of New Jersey's largest city was his biggest catch.
"We don't rank 'em, we don't rate 'em," he replied. "What I hope it shows is that no matter how long you're in office, no matter how powerful you're perceived to be, that we will chase down every lead. And if we believe we have proof we'll bring cases against you."
The suspects include Coniglio, a Democrat who lives in Paramus, where he formerly served on the Borough Council. Christie's office is investigating whether the retired plumber used his Senate post to steer more than $1 million in taxpayer dollars to Hackensack University Medical Center at the same time the hospital employed him as a consultant.
Coniglio insists he has done nothing wrong. Asked during a March interview whether he played a role in steering grants to the hospital, he said, "No." He later said, "I don't recall."
Bryant, a Camden County Democrat who sat on the Senate's powerful Budget and Appropriations committee with Coniglio, was indicted in March on charges that he steered millions in state tax dollars to UMDNJ in exchange for a "no-show" job.
His attorney, Carl Poplar, said that no plea deal is on the table, and that Bryant, who has pleaded not guilty, is gearing up for a scheduled January 28th trial.
Others under scrutiny include state Assemblyman Brian Stack, the Democratic mayor of Union City. Prosecutors have subpoenaed records while examining whether he steered taxpayers' dollars to build a park next to his wife's day care center.
Stack and his wife, Katia, have acknowledged that the mayor played a role in grants that also benefited the day-care center that she directs. But they say the money was earmarked for construction -- and, therefore, separate from the director's salary.
The mayor said that he welcomes a complete and thorough review, which he predicted would "put this thing to rest once and for all."
Another Union City property that has attracted Christie's interest is a house owned by Menendez that was rented by a social services agency. Prosecutors are probing whether Menendez, a Democrat, helped secure federal tax money for the agency.
Ex Mayor Sharpe James back in the news.
Ewww. I hope they washed the bedspread and not just the sheets.
Nothing shocks me anymore. I am happy he is being exposed & hope they catch more like him. I am just waiting to see what happens next...
It really puts hotel stays into a different perspective, huh?
Yesterday, Al Sharpton came into the federal magnifying glass. Some of these rocks are going to have very interesting things crawling out from underneath.
BEFORE Tamika Riley upon her arrest.
AFTER Tamika Riley after she got a defense lawyer (note the demure pearls).
I bet but I am still irked that James McGreevey has never gotten charged for anything.
One of EIGHT.
::shakes head::
I wouldn’t worry about that yet. Christie is not done nor has he showed any cards.
James to Tamika: "Do you have this slinky little number in my size"?
Mayor AC-DC.......I guess James wanted the dress for when he went dancing with “the boys.”
The feds think they got sex charges on James-—wait til the sex stuff about McSeedy slimes out.
To Catch a Predator could not run the stuff on McG -—it’s so filthy.
I hope you are right. I would love to see them get that stinker. I’d use a better word but I am being nice today lol.
I live in New York and I can honestly say that I do not remember a time when some highly-placed Democrat politician wasn’t caught on film committing a larcenous crime, wasn’t indicted for same or wasn’t being convicted of same. Let’s see. Harrison Williams, Sharpe James, Jim Mcgreevey, Bob Toricelli, Tony Soprano...
Tony Soprano?
Hell, the taxpayers of NJ ought to have given ole Sharpe a permanent supply of hookers, pornos, and K-Y jelly if he agreed never to set foot in Newark (or Trenton) ever again.
A little levity. I didn’t think I had to place a sarcasm note.
Levity granted. I couldn’t tell if it was a joke or a reference to that judge, Robert Baer, who is in court for the assistance given in the making of the Sopranos :)
There is a reason that The Sopranos takes place in New Jersey. It’s suitable terroir.
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