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TRENTON – Attorney
General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice
Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that
former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas and
a longtime aide have pleaded guilty to corruption
charges, including charges that they solicited
an illicit payment of $58,000 from a city
vendor and illegally funneled money into
Vas’ congressional campaign via straw
donors to evade campaign funding and reporting
rules.
According
to Director Taylor, Vas, 55, of Perth Amboy,
pleaded guilty yesterday evening to two
counts of second-degree pattern of official
misconduct, and one count each of theft
by unlawful taking and financial facilitation
of criminal activity (money laundering),
both in the third degree, before Superior
Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. in Monmouth
County. In pleading guilty, Vas admitted
that he engaged in a series of corrupt schemes
charged in two state grand jury indictments
obtained by the Division of Criminal Justice
in March 2009 and May 2009.
Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Vas, who was also formerly a New Jersey
state assemblyman, be sentenced to eight
years in state prison, including five years
without possibility of parole. He is permanently
barred from public employment and is jointly
and severally liable with his co-defendants
for paying a total of $222,833 in restitution.
“Former
Mayor Vas and his longtime aide pleaded
guilty to illegally pumping funds into Vas’
congressional campaign and having a city
vendor pay an unauthorized $58,000 catering
bill for a city gala, among other things,”
said Attorney General Dow. “All of
this was about Vas corruptly seeking to
build his war chest and his political stature.”
“The
corrupt conduct of Mayor Vas was shocking
both because of its brazenness and because
it took so many forms,” said Director
Taylor. “He pleaded guilty to five
different illegal schemes. This is a man
who did not let the law, his oath or any
code of ethics stand in his way.”
Earlier
yesterday, Vas’ longtime mayoral aide,
Melvin Ramos, 54, of Perth Amboy, pleaded
guilty to charges of second-degree conspiracy
and third-degree financial facilitation
of criminal activity before Judge Mellaci.
Under Ramos’ plea agreement, the state
will recommend that he be sentenced to seven
years in state prison. He is permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey
and is jointly and severally liable with
Vas and three co-defendants for payment
of $58,006 in restitution to Perth Amboy.
On
Oct. 8, Vas and Ramos were convicted of
federal corruption charges filed by the
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District
of New Jersey. They are scheduled to be
sentenced in federal court in January. Their
state prison terms will run concurrently
with the terms they will serve in federal
prison. Judge Mellaci scheduled sentencing
for Vas and Ramos for Jan. 28, 2011.
Deputy
Attorney General Dianne C. DiGiamber Deal
and Supervising Deputy Attorney General
Susan Kase took the guilty pleas yesterday
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. Deputy Attorney General Pearl Minato
also prosecuted the case.
The
investigation was conducted by Deputy Attorney
General 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
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.
Vas
and Ramos pleaded guilty to charges contained
in a May 21, 2009 state grand jury indictment
stemming from an investigation by the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. The
19-count indictment also charged two corporations
that were city vendors and two owners of
one of the corporations. All of the defendants
in that indictment have now pleaded guilty.
Vas also pleaded guilty to charges in a
March 11, 2009 state grand jury indictment.
In
pleading guilty, Vas and Ramos admitted
that between January and July 2006, they
solicited city employees and others to make
fraudulent contributions to Vas’ 2006
campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives
for the 13th Congressional District. Ramos
admitted he paid cash to the people he solicited
to reimburse them for writing personal checks
payable to “Vas for Congress.”
Vas and Ramos are guilty of money laundering
because by structuring funds into the campaign
through people who falsely appeared to be
making personal contributions, they sought
to avoid applicable state and federal currency
transaction reporting requirements in connection
with deposits into the campaign’s
account at Commerce Bank.
Vas
and Ramos also admitted that they participated
in a fraudulent scheme with a city contractor,
Imperial Construction Group Inc. of Pine
Brook. On Aug. 3, the owners of the company,
Frank Dominguez, 47, of Chester, and Richard
Briggs, 50, of Long Valley, pleaded guilty
to third-degree misconduct by a corporate
official for submitting a false invoice
to the City of Perth Amboy. The company
pleaded guilty to third-degree submission
of false payment claims under a government
contract.
Dominguez
and Briggs admitted that they submitted
a false invoice for Imperial Construction
at the direction of Vas and Ramos, so that
they could obtain payment from the city
secretly reimbursing them for a $58,006
catering bill they paid at the mayor’s
request. The bill, which was not authorized,
was for a ribbon cutting ceremony on April
19, 2008 at the new Perth Amboy Public Safety-Court-Community
Complex. The state will recommend that Dominguez
and Briggs each be sentenced to five years
of probation. They are scheduled for sentencing
on Feb. 18. The two men and Imperial Construction
will be barred from public contracts in
New Jersey for five years. Those three defendants
are jointly and severally liable with Vas
and Ramos for paying restitution to the
City of Perth Amboy of $58,006.
In
addition, Vas admitted that between May
and November 2002, he accepted approximately
$25,000 in masonry and paving work at his
home, free of charge, from a city vendor,
Jenicar Builders Contractors Co., Inc. On
Aug. 26, Jenicar pleaded guilty to third-degree
conspiracy to commit official misconduct.
The company must pay a $45,000 fine.
In
connection with the May 21, 2009 indictment,
Vas also admitted illegally obtaining $5,926
from the city by unlawfully authorizing
the submission to the city and approval
of payment of a personal medical bill for
$5,322 he received from the Mayo Clinic
of Jacksonville, Fla., and a personal eyeglasses
bill for $604 he received from LensCrafters.
In
connection with the March 2009 indictment,
Vas admitted that he conspired with city
employees from 2003 to 2007 to fraudulently
obtain payment of approximately $5,000 from
the Perth Amboy Recreation Department for
his personal expenses. In addition, Vas
admitted that he rigged a public lottery
so that his driver, Anthony S. Jones, 49,
won the opportunity to buy an affordable
home through the Perth Amboy Home Program.
Jones was also named in the indictment.
The charges against Jones are pending and
he is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
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