TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a man who served as personal
driver to former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph
Vas pleaded guilty today in connection with
a scheme involving Vas to rig a public housing
lottery.
According
to Director Taylor, Anthony S. Jones, 50,
of Perth Amboy, pleaded guilty to a criminal
accusation charging him with third-degree
falsifying or tampering with records before
Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci
Jr. in Monmouth County. Jones admitted that
he falsified personal financial information
that he submitted in order to qualify to
buy an affordable two-family home on Market
Street in Perth Amboy through the Perth
Amboy Home Program. Previously, Vas admitted
that he rigged the public lottery for the
home so that Jones won the opportunity to
buy it. Jones was originally indicted with
Vas on March 11, 2009.
Deputy
Attorney General Nicole Rizzolo took the
plea for the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau. Under the plea agreement,
the state will recommend that Jones be sentenced
to a term of probation. He must forfeit
the home, which the city will sell to another
HUD-qualified buyer, and he must pay back
a sum of rent, to be determined, that he
collected by leasing one unit of the duplex
home. He must pay $2,000 to the City of
Perth Amboy for attorneys’ fees and
closing costs it incurred in selling him
the home. He must forfeit his job with the
City of Perth Amboy and will be permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey.
“Jones
conspired with Mayor Vas in a scheme to
manipulate the housing lottery and cheat
the many other families who were denied
a chance to purchase an affordable home,”
said Attorney General Dow. “This was
a case of shameless cronyism and abuse of
power.”
“We
now have taken guilty pleas from former
Mayor Vas and all of his co-defendants in
two indictments,” said Director Taylor.
“These convictions are a tribute to
the exemplary work of the members of the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau who investigated and prosecuted these
crimes.”
Judge
Mellaci scheduled Jones to be sentenced
on Jan. 6, 2012.
The
investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau revealed that,
in connection with the housing lottery,
Vas arranged for a co-conspirator, not named
in the indictment, to conceal a folded index
card bearing Jones’ name and pretend
to randomly draw it as the winner from among
40 participants. As a result, Jones was
able to purchase the low-income housing,
which was made available through the U.S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development
New Construction First Time Home Buyers
Program. Jones paid $129,800 for the home
and received $2,000 in subsidized closing
costs from the city.
On
Nov. 18, 2010, Vas, 56, of Perth Amboy,
pleaded guilty to corruption charges, including
charges that he rigged the housing lottery
for Jones, solicited an illicit payment
of $58,000 from a city vendor, and illegally
funneled money into his congressional campaign
via straw donors to evade campaign funding
and reporting rules. His longtime aide Melvin
Ramos also pleaded guilty to corruption
charges in connection with the illicit $58,000
payment and campaign funding scheme. On
April 15, 2011, Judge Mellaci sentenced
Vas to eight years in prison, including
five years of parole ineligibility, and
sentenced Ramos to seven years in prison.
The
investigation was conducted by Deputy Attorney
General Dianne C. DiGiamber Deal, Sgt. Dino
Dettorre and Detective Benjamin Kukis. They
were assisted by Lt. Daniel O'Brien, Sgt.
Robert McGrath, Detective Lee Bailey, Detective
Melissa Calkin, Detective Lisa Cawley, Detective
Shaun Egan, Detective Kiersten Pentony,
Detective Robert Stemmer and Civil Investigator
Joseph Salvatore. Deputy Attorney General
Pearl Minato, Deputy Attorney General Asha
Vaghela and former Assistant Attorney General
Lewis Korngut also worked on the case. They
were supervised by Assistant Attorney General
Boris Moczula, Deputy Director of the Division
of Criminal Justice, and Deputy Attorney
General Christine Hoffman, Chief of the
Corruption Bureau.
Attorney
General Dow and Director Taylor noted that
the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau has established a toll-free Corruption
Tipline for the public to report corruption,
financial crime and other illegal activities.
The statewide Corruption Tipline is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division of Criminal Justice Web page at
www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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