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For Immediate Release:  
For Further Information:
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December 14, 2009

Office of The Attorney General
- Anne Milgram, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Deborah L. Gramiccioni, Director

 

Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791

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Colombian National Pleads Guilty to Charge He Aided Administrator for the New Jersey Department of Corrections in Bid Rigging and Kickback Scheme

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TRENTON – Attorney General Anne Milgram announced that a Colombian national pleaded guilty today to assisting suspended Department of Corrections administrator Gerald T. Kennedy in a bid rigging and kickback scheme involving hundreds of thousands of dollars in state contracts.

According to Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni, Jasher Guerrero Ramos, 49, a Colombian national who formerly lived in Elizabeth, pleaded guilty to bribery, a second-degree crime, before Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman in Monmouth County. The charge was contained in an Aug. 29, 2007 state grand jury indictment.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Guerrero Ramos be sentenced to five years in state prison. Deputy Attorney General Steven J. Zweig took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 5.

Guerrero Ramos must fully cooperate with the state in its ongoing investigation and prosecution of Kennedy and others. He will be barred from doing business with any public agency in New Jersey for a period of ten years, along with any company in which he is a principal or holds a substantial ownership interest.

Guerrero Ramos fled the U.S. prior to being indicted. He was arrested in June 2008 in Colombia on a warrant obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice. He was extradited to the U.S. in July 2009 and turned over to DCJ detectives by federal authorities. He is being held in the Monmouth County Jail.

“The guilty plea of this defendant, following his capture and extradition from Colombia, reflects our resolve to see that every person responsible for this corrupt scheme is brought to justice,” said Attorney General Milgram.

The Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau obtained an indictment on April 2, 2008, charging Kennedy, 47, of Red Bank, with steering $678,000 in state contracts between 2003 and 2005 to three companies that were owned by friends. As Assistant Director of the DOC Division of Operations, in charge of the Capital Planning & Construction Unit, Kennedy had control over soliciting bids and selecting contractors for small capital projects costing under $41,100.

Kennedy allegedly steered 18 state contracts totaling approximately $348,000 to Pro General Contracting Inc., aka Pro Painting & General Contracting Inc. Guerrero Ramos was listed in corporate records as owner of Pro Painting. However, the state’s investigation revealed that Kennedy actually controlled the company. Kennedy allegedly received more than $45,000 in kickbacks on those contracts with the help of Guerrero Ramos and another man, Ronald Hayes, who has pleaded guilty in the scheme.

In pleading guilty, Guerrero Ramos admitted that he funneled cash back to Kennedy through Hayes by writing checks to Hayes as if Hayes performed work for Pro Painting, when he did not actually perform any work for the company. The state’s investigation revealed that Hayes received checks totaling approximately $50,000 from Pro Painting. In pleading guilty, Hayes admitted he would keep just 5 to 10 percent of the amount of each check and give the rest of the money directly to Kennedy.

Kennedy allegedly received more than $30,000 in kickbacks on eight contracts totaling $170,000 that he awarded to SBC Construction Inc., the company of another friend, Alfred “Buddy” Canale. Canale has also pleaded guilty.

In addition, Kennedy allegedly steered $160,000 in contracts to a third company SteelGrey LLC, which was owned by his friend Mark Stermer, 42, of Red Bank, who was indicted with him. The charges against Kennedy and Stermer are pending. A full list of charges can be found with the April 3, 2008 press release at www.njpublicsafety.com. The indictments are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Although Kennedy was required to seek bids from at least three pre-qualified contractors, he frequently solicited bids exclusively from the companies he and his friends controlled, and he often allegedly dictated the amount of each bid so he could award the contract as he desired. The contracts were for masonry, painting, "skirting" of a trailer, and roofing repairs.

The Department of Corrections reported suspected irregularities in the bidding process on small capital projects to the Division of Criminal Justice in early 2006.

“We will continue to work closely with other governmental agencies to investigate and prosecute any allegations of criminal conduct involving the public contracting process,” said Director Gramiccioni. “Vigilance is critical given the many millions of tax dollars spent each year on government contracts.”

Deputy Attorneys General Steven J. Zweig and Pearl Minato are prosecuting the case against Kennedy and the other remaining defendants. The investigation was conducted and coordinated by Lt. Keith Lerner, Detective Paul Marfino and Deputy Attorney General Zweig of the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau, assisted by Senior Investigator Manuel Alfonso of the Department of Corrections, Special Investigations Division, who was sworn in as a special investigator for the Division of Criminal Justice. Attorney General Milgram thanked the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Government of Colombia for their assistance in capturing Guerrero Ramos and extraditing him to the United States.

Attorney General Milgram noted that the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau has established a toll-free Corruption Tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ. The public can also log on to the Division’s Web site www.njdcj.org to confidentially report suspected wrongdoing.

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