Political corruption in Camden, New Jersey

Last updated

Throughout its history the city of Camden, NJ, there have been several political corruption scandals that have engulfed the city and, at times, the nation. Three Camden mayors have been jailed for corruption: Angelo Errichetti, Arnold Webster, and Milton Milan. [1] One other mayor of Camden, Dana Redd, was indited alongside George Norcross, longtime Democratic Party powerbroker in corruption charges in 2024.

Contents

Convicted Mayors of Camden

Angelo Errichetti and the Abscam Scandal

Errichetti first got wrapped in the Abscam when he accepted a bribe to help obtain gambling licenses in Atlantic City for Abdul Enterprises. He was largely responsible for introducing the Abdul Enterprises to the political world. He introduced Abdul Enterprises to Senator Harrison Williams of New Jersey. He then also introduced Michael Myers and Raymond Lederer, both Democrat US representatives in Pennslyvania. He also introduced the company to Frank Thompson Jr. to the company. By 1979, he had arranged several meetings between the company and several local, state, and national politicians that were willing to be involived in the operation. In 1981, Errichetti was convicted with three others for accepting a $50,000 bribe from FBI undercover agents in exchange for helping a non-existent Arab sheikh enter the United States. [2] The FBI scheme was part of the Abscam operation. The 2013 film American Hustle is a fictionalized portrayal of this scheme. [3]

Arnold Webster

In 1999, Webster, who was previously the superintendent of Camden City Public Schools, pleaded guilty to illegally paying himself $20,000 in school district funds after he became mayor. [4]

Milton Milan

In 2001, Milan was sentenced to more than six years in federal prison for accepting payoffs from associates of Philadelphia organized crime boss Ralph Natale, [5] soliciting bribes and free home renovations from city vendors, skimming money from a political action committee, and laundering drug money. [6] [7]

2024 Corruption Scandal

Dana Redd

Dana Redd was Mayor of Camden from 2010 to 2018. In 2024, she was indicted alongside George Norcross under charges of racketeering accused of using her office to help obtain waterfront properties and development rights for the benefit of George Norcross and businesses that he associates. [8]

George Norcross

Norcross has argued that his developments and projects have benefited the city and people of Camden while many residents have protested otherwise. [8]

Wayne R. Bryant

The Courier-Post dubbed former State Senator Wayne R. Bryant, who represented the state's 5th Legislative District from 1995 to 2008, the "king of double dipping" for accepting no-show jobs in return for political benefits. [9] In 2009, Bryant was sentenced to four years in federal prison for funneling $10.5 million to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) in exchange for a no-show job and accepting fraudulent jobs to inflate his state pension and was assessed a fine of $25,000 and restitution to UMDNJ in excess of $110,000. [10] In 2010, Bryant was charged with an additional 22 criminal counts of bribery and fraud, for taking $192,000 in false legal fees in exchange for backing redevelopment projects in Camden, Pennsauken Township and the New Jersey Meadowlands between 2004 and 2006. [11]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abscam</span> FBI sting operation

Abscam, sometimes written ABSCAM, was a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to the convictions of seven members from both chambers of the United States Congress and others for bribery and corruption. The two-year investigation initially targeted trafficking in stolen property and corruption of prominent business people, but later evolved into a corruption investigation. The FBI was aided by the United States Department of Justice and convict Mel Weinberg in videotaping politicians accepting bribes from a fictitious Arabian company in return for various political favors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey</span> Dentistry school

The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution with six locations in New Jersey.

Charles "Chuck" Panici was mayor of Chicago Heights, Illinois from 1975 to 1991. He was also head of the Bloom Township Republican Party from 1978 to 1992. He was born in 1930 in the "Hungry Hill" section of Chicago Heights, a south suburb, which was the home to mainly Italian immigrants in a heavily Italian town. His parents operated "Three Star Restaurant", a popular hangout for many neighborhood residents.

Wayne R. Bryant is an American Democratic Party politician, who served in the New Jersey State Senate from 1995 to 2008, where he represented the 5th Legislative District. He is also a convicted felon for corruption. Before entering the Senate, Bryant served in New Jersey's lower house, the General Assembly, from 1982 to 1995 and on the Camden County Board of Chosen Freeholders from 1980 to 1982.

Angelo Joseph Errichetti was an American Democratic Party politician who served as Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, and in the New Jersey Senate before being indicted during Abscam.

Milton Milan is an American Democratic politician. He was the first Latino Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, elected in 1997, before being convicted of corruption and subsequently removed from office, becoming the third Camden mayor in 20 years to be found guilty of corruption.

Daniel M. Van Pelt is an American Republican politician, who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from January 8, 2008, until July 31, 2009, when he resigned after being arrested in connection with Operation Bid Rig on federal corruption charges for allegedly accepting a $10,000 bribe. He was later convicted and sentenced to 41 months in prison. In the Assembly, he represented the 9th legislative district.

The Cockerham bribery case involved the investigation and subsequent trials of United States Army contracting officers and their family members who were accused of accepting bribes in return for steering multimillion-dollar contracts to companies providing services for the US Army in Iraq and Kuwait between 2004 and 2007. The alleged ringleader of the accused officers was US Army Major John L. Cockerham, who was sentenced to 17 and 1/2 years in prison for accepting bribes from Army contractors. The contracts, mainly for bottled water, involved at least three US Army contracting officers, two of their family members, six companies from India, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the United States, and up to $15 million in bribe money.

Operation Big Coon Dog was an investigation by the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) into alleged corruption surrounding the use of federal and state disaster recovery funds by public officials in Buchanan County, Virginia, United States, following severe flooding in the town of Hurley in May 2002. The investigation resulted in the criminal conviction of sixteen people, including several public officials and other government employees, on charges of bribery and fraud. It has been called the largest public corruption case in western Virginia in decades and a step towards uncovering a "dark culture of corruption in Buchanan County".

Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014.

Dennis P. Elwell served as Mayor of Secaucus, New Jersey from 2000 until July 28, 2009, when he resigned after allegations of political corruption.

Mayor of Camden, New Jersey, has been an office since its inception in 1828.

<i>American Hustle</i> 2013 film directed by David O. Russell

American Hustle is a 2013 American black comedy crime film directed by David O. Russell. It was written by Eric Warren Singer and Russell and inspired by the FBI Abscam operation of the late 1970s and early 1980s. It stars Christian Bale and Amy Adams as two con artists forced by an FBI agent to set up an elaborate sting operation on corrupt politicians, including the mayor of Camden, New Jersey. Jennifer Lawrence plays the unpredictable wife of Bale's character. Principal photography took place from March to May 2013 in Boston and Worcester, Massachusetts, as well as New York City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Holyland Case</span> Corruption case im Israel

The Holyland Case, named for the Holyland Park building complex in Jerusalem, was a high-profile corruption case in which top Israeli officials were charged with bribery and money laundering, among them former Israel Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and the former mayor of Jerusalem Uri Lupolianski. Of the 13 defendants, three were acquitted and ten, including Olmert, were found guilty.

Christopher B. Epps is a federal inmate and a former commissioner of the Mississippi Department of Corrections (MDOC) and career employee in the state criminal justice system though he started his career as a teacher. Appointed as Commissioner in 2002 and serving until 2014, he served under three governors and was the agency's longest-serving commissioner in its history. Epps came up within the department as a 32-year career employee.

Operation Mississippi Hustle was a federal investigation initiated in 2014 by the United States Attorney and prosecuted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. It examined the relationship between officials of the Mississippi Department of Corrections and various for-profit prison contractors and subcontractors, who have provided services to the five private prisons in the state. One, Walnut Grove, closed in September 2016 but has since reopened.

John Francis Good was an American agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) who created the Abscam sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Abscam led to the arrest and conviction of several elected officials at the local, state, and federal level, including Mayor of Camden, New Jersey Angelo Errichetti and U.S. Senator Harrison A. Williams, using a fictional Arab sheikh seeking political favors as bait. The Abscam story was portrayed in the 2013 film American Hustle; in the movie, Bradley Cooper portrayed a composite character that was based on Good and two other FBI agents who worked on the case during the two-year-long operation.

Thomas Phillip Puccio was an American trial attorney who served in the United States Department of Justice, including as an investigator and prosecutor in the Abscam case, before working as a criminal defense lawyer representing high-profile clients such as Claus von Bülow.

References

  1. ↑ Hedges, Chris. " City of RuinsWalt Whitman's hometown is a Dickensian nightmare—and a warning for the rest of America", Utne Reader , March–April 2011. Accessed July 29, 2014. "Corruption is rampant, with three mayors convicted of felonies in a little more than two decades."
  2. ↑ via United Press International. "Pennsylvania Congressman, Three Others Found Guilty in Abscam Corruption Trial", The Hour , August 30, 1980. Accessed December 20, 2014.
  3. ↑ Sherman, Ted. "Jersey Hustle: The real-life story of Abscam", The Star-Ledger , November 25, 2013. Accessed December 20, 2014. "The producers of American Hustle call it a work of fiction.... But while names have been changed, and many of its characters transformed or wholly invented by the screenwriters, it is no secret that the highly awaited film, which opens later this month, is based on the infamous Abscam case."
  4. ↑ Schurr, Brendan, via Associated Press. "Camden, N.J., Mayor Convicted of Corruption", Portsmouth Daily Times , December 22, 2000. Accessed December 20, 2014.
  5. ↑ Peterson, Iver. "In Camden, Another Mayor Is Indicted on Corruption Charges", The New York Times , March 31, 2000. Accessed August 22, 2018. "The ills of this desperate city deepened today with the indictment of its mayor, Milton Milan, on 19 charges of corruption, ranging from laundering drug money and taking bribes from organized crime leaders to stealing his own computer, collecting the insurance and then selling it to a naive office volunteer for three times its worth."
  6. ↑ Vargas, Caudia. "Milton Milan Jr. to seek Camden Council seat", The Philadelphia Inquirer , June 7, 2011. Accessed December 21, 2014. "The elder Milan – the city's first Hispanic mayor – was convicted in December 2000 of accepting payoffs from organized crime, soliciting bribes and free home renovations from city vendors, skimming money from a political-action committee, and laundering drug money."
  7. ↑ Staff. "Milan Begins Sentence", The New York Times , July 16, 2001. Accessed July 2, 2012. "Former Mayor Milton Milan, 38, convicted of corruption charges in December, is now serving his seven-year sentence at a low-security federal prison in Loretto, Pa., where he was transferred Friday. ... On June 15, Mr. Milan was sentenced on 14 counts of corruption, including taking payoffs from the mob, as well as concealing the source of a $65,000 loan from a drug kingpin."
  8. 1 2 Soloman, Nancy. "Party boss George Norcross' indictment details a web of corruption across South Jersey". Gothamist. Gothamist. Retrieved 16 November 2024.
  9. ↑ "Bryant is region's king of double dipping". Courier-Post. Archived from the original on January 31, 2013. Retrieved June 30, 2012.
  10. ↑ Graber, Trish G. "Former Sen. Wayne Bryant gets four years in prison for bribery, fraud", The Star-Ledger , July 25, 2009. Accessed December 21, 2014. "Bryant, who left office in 2007, helped steer $10.5 million in state grants to his employer, a school within the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey. Now he will have to pay $113,167 in restitution to UMDNJ and a $25,000 fine."
  11. ↑ Ryan, Joe. "Ex-N.J. senator Wayne Bryant is indicted on additional bribery charges", The Star-Ledger , September 27, 2010. Accessed December 20, 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.