By Tony Kurdzuk/
The Star-Ledger
With a tear in his eye and surrounded by reporters, Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera leaves the federal courthouse in Trenton after his first appearance on bribery charges this afternoon.
FBI agents this morning rounded up 11 New Jersey public officials on bribery charges related to roofing and insurance contracts following an 18-month operation that swept the state from south to north, authorities said.
The investigation probed nearly every layer of government, beginning with the Pleasantville school board in Atlantic County, and gradually widening to include state assemblymen, mayors and current and former councilmen from Passaic and Essex counties, according U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie.
"I thought I could no longer be surprised by a combination of brazenness, arrogance and stupidity, but the people elected in this state continue to defy description," Christie said at a late-afternoon news conference, warning other politicians: "We will continue to gather you in corrupt bunches and send you to jail."
Among those charged are Samuel Rivera, the mayor of Passaic; Assemblyman Mims Hackett, Jr., who is also the mayor of Orange; Assemblyman Rev. Alfred E. Steele, who was also a Passaic County undersheriff; and Keith Reid, the chief of staff to Newark City Council President Mildred Crump. All of them are Democrats.
The probe - dubbed "Operation Broken Boards" - also netted a current Passaic councilman, a former Passaic councilman and five current and former members of the Pleasantville Board of Education, authorities said.
At the news conference, Christie quoted statements made by the officials when they allegedly agreed to the bribes, recalling an encounter when Hackett was asked whether a payment of $5,000 and a promise of $25,000 more to come "works for you."
"Assemblyman Hackett said, 'Oh yeah, Oh yeah.' That definitely worked for him," Christie said.
The 11 officials are accused of accepting bribes in exchange for agreeing to steer public contracts to companies that offered insurance brokerage or roofing services to school districts and municipalities, according to criminal complaints unsealed with the arrests. The individual payments ranged from $1,500 to $17,500, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
"They represent constituencies from one end of the state to another, from Pleasantville to Passaic," FBI Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun said at the news conference, adding that he was particularly troubled by school board members' involvement.
"That is indeed sad for the state of New Jersey," Dun said.
Christie and the FBI have made public corruption a top priority in recent years. The investigation leading to today's arrests began in mid-2006 as an inquiry into corruption in the Pleasantville School District.
The FBI set up an undercover insurance brokerage company that included undercover agents and two cooperating witnesses, one of whom had previously operated a roofing business, according to a statement released today by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The school board members allegedly took bribes from the cooperating witnesses, and the probe widened when school board members directed the cooperating witnesses to officials in north Jersey, authorities said. They, in turn, directed investigators to other public officials, authorities said.
The roofing company and insurance brokerage were not named in the complaint. But sources close to the investigation, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details of the case, identified them as Aetna Roofing of Trenton and Coastal Solutions LLC, of Egg Harbor Township. Aetna Roofing has been in business since 1968, according to its Web site. Its chairman is Bruce Begg.
Last summer, Coastal Solutions began operating out of the same address as Aetna and listed Begg as a registered agent, according to corporate records, but sources said it was actually the FBI front referred to in the complaint. Its Web site, which was taken down today, said the firm specialized in urban governments and Abbott school districts. The site promoted Coastal Solutions and two affiliates that handled development and finance. One of the affiliates' links featured a quote from Begg: "Coastal Development is all about relationships and trust. Their success is rooted in experience and integrity."
"I'm not going to have any comment on any of that," Begg said today when asked about his company's role in the investigation.
Trouble has long plagued the schools of Pleasantville, located about five miles west of downtown Atlantic City.
With 3,600 students, it is an Abbott District that has had 13 superintendents since 1997 -- seven of whom were on the job fewer than six months. In July, a state-appointed monitor began working with the district after years of financial and staffing turmoil. A recent investigation by an independent law firm accused past and present school board members of violating the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act.
Today was the first day of school for the district, and although some parents were under the belief there would be an emergency school board meeting tonight, none was scheduled, Pleasantville Assistant Superintendent Gregory Allen said today. He declined to comment on the arrests.
Among those arrested today are School Board President James Pressley and board member Rafael Velez. The former board members include Jayson Adams, James McCormick and Maurice "Pete" Callaway, the brother of former Atlantic City Councilman Craig Callaway, who is currently in prison for taking bribes from an undercover FBI agent.
A 12th suspect, Louis Mister, was arrested and charged with accepting two $1,500 bribes on behalf of Callaway, authorities said.
The suspects from the Passaic City Council are Marcellus Jackson, a Democrat, and former councilman Jonathon Soto, a Republican who lost reelection in May. He teaches social studies at a middle school in Passaic and is a member of the city's redevelopment agency.
Following the early-morning arrests, Steele, a deputy assembly speaker since 2002, resigned his post as undersheriff as he was about to be suspended by Passaic County Sheriff Jerry Speziale, a sheriff's spokesman said.
The 12 defendents are charged with either conspiracy to extort corrupt payments or attempting to extort corrupt payments, offenses that carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine. They made their first court appearances in Trenton this afternoon, but did not enter any pleas. All of the defendants were led into the federal courtroom in handcuffs, while a few, including Steele, were in ankle shackles.
They were released on $200,000 unsecured bond, meaning they would forfeit that amount if they fail to keep future court appearances but were not required to put up any cash or property as collateral.
Anna Cominsky, the lawyer for Rivera, said, "Today is the first day of the case and everyone should remember Mayor Rivera is presumed innocent. Until we get more information we cannot comment." Lawyers for the other defendants also declined to comment.
The 12 are accused of accepting the following amounts, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office:
James Pressley - $32,200
Jayson Adams - $15,000
Marcellus Jackson - $16,500
Rafael Velez - $14,000
Rev. Alfred E. Steele - $14,000
Maurice "Pete" Callaway - $13,000
Jonathon Soto - $12,500
Keith Reid - $10,000
Mims Hackett, Jr. - $5,000 as an "up-front" payment. Hackett allegedly agreed to accept another $25,000 once Orange approved an insurance brokerage contract.
Samuel Rivera - $5,000
James McCormick- $3,500
(c) 2007 Newark, NJ Star Ledger
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