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For Immediate Release:
For Further Information:
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August 18, 2011

Office of The Attorney General
- Paula T. Dow, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Stephen J. Taylor, Director

Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791
Citizen Inquiries-
609-292-4925

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Driver for Former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas Pleads Guilty in Connection with Scheme to Rig Public Housing Lottery

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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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