10 Notable New Jersey Officials Convicted of Political Corruption

When New Jersey was a colony in the early 18th century, Governor Edward Hyde (also known as Lord Cornbury) was charged with embezzlement, financial mismanagement and accepting bribes.

It was the beginning of a tradition of political corruption so deeply ingrained in everyday life that the University of Chicago listed it as one of its New Jersey among the 10 most corrupt states in the country.

The trial of Democratic New Jersey Sen. Bob Menendez is just the latest in a long line of legal proceedings involving alleged abuses in the Garden State.

Below is, although it is by no means a definitive list, of notable New Jersey officials convicted of political corruption, including five mayors of Atlantic City:

” READ MORE: From gold bars to expensive cars: all the bribes Senator Bob Menendez has been accused of over the years

U.S. Senator Harrison Williams, U.S. Representative Frank Thompson, and New Jersey Senator and Camden Mayor Angelo Errichetti

All three Democrats were caught in an FBI sting known as Abscam which began 47 years ago this month. A fake Long Island company named after one of several fictitious Arab sheikhs, Abdul Enterprises, was set up to pay for casino licenses and building permits. Williams was convicted for nine counts of bribery and conspiracy to use his position to advance business ventures, serving two years of a three-year sentence.

Thompson of Trenton was convicted to a maximum of three years in prison and a $20,000 fine after being found guilty in 1980 of bribery and conspiracy with Sen. John Murphy (D., N.Y.) for sharing two $50,000 bribes. A federal judge recommended his parole after three months. Errichetti, a popular mayor credited with easing racial tensions in Camden, was convicted bribery and spent almost three years in prison. Actor Jeremy Renner played a character based on Errichetti in American rushfilm about Abscam.

” READ MORE: Top Democrats Call on Sen. Bob Menendez to Resign After Conviction

Hugh Addonizio

A former Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives and two-term mayor of Newark, Addonizio was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison and fined $25,000 for conspiracy and extortion in 1970. Associated with organized crime, Addonizio was tried on charges of conspiring to obtain $1.4 million in bribes from city contractors. He tried to campaign from the federal courthouse during the mayoral election, but lost. The prosecutor told the jury that Addonizio was “a man of easy conscience and weak pride” and “a casino-goer.”

” READ MORE: Bob Menendez Verdict: Will He Have to Resign? How Long Does He Face in Prison? What’s Next?

Wayne Bryant

A former Democratic state senator representing Camden, Bryant was convicted to 48 months in federal prison in 2009 for unlawfully using his position of power and influence to obtain a low-paying job at the now-defunct University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey’s Osteopathic School in exchange for lobbying to secure millions of dollars in additional funding for the school, and using that and other jobs to fraudulently triple his state pension. Bryant spent 26 years in the Legislature. He was released from prison after serving 40 months.

Sharpe James

Democratic Mayor of Newark from 1986 to 2006, James was convicted in 2008 for helping his girlfriend gain access to a city-sponsored program to redevelop Newark’s struggling South Ward neighborhood and buy nine city-owned properties at low prices, selling them for a profit of more than $600,000. Found guilty of fraud, James was sentenced to 27 months in prison, far less than the 20 years prosecutors had sought.

Called by New York Times “A powerful, if sometimes vengeful man,” James is credited with founding the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, Prudential Arena and the Newark Bears team.

John Lynch

Former Democratic President of the New Jersey Senate and Mayor of New Brunswick, Lynch pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and tax evasion in 2006. He admitted accepting more than $25,000 from a mining company he helped obtain permits for while he was in the state Senate. Lynch was once the state’s most influential power broker and a potential candidate for governor.

In a court statement, Lynch apologized for the harm done to New Jersey’s reputation, saying, “I deeply regret this action, not only because it will irreparably stain my reputation, but more importantly because it will further erode citizens’ trust in public officials, as well as the entire country’s perception of this great state.”

Milton Milan

A former mayor of Camden from the Marine Corps and Democratic Party, Milan was convicted in 2000 for accepting bribes from the Mafia, using city contractors to do unpaid housework, laundering money from a drug dealer, committing insurance fraud, using vehicles provided for free by a towing company and selling a stolen computer to an intern. He allegedly used some of the money to travel to Puerto Rico. U.S. District Judge Joel A. Pisano told Milan that he “enjoyed the trappings of the office more than the duties,” according to Camden Civil Rights Project. Milan was sentenced to seven years in prison.

William Musto

Musto, a former Democratic state senator and mayor of Union City who entered public life in 1946, was put him in jail.

Enoch (Nucky) Johnson

Johnson was a titanic Republican power broker and criminal in the city, according to the Eagleton Institute of Politics Center on the American Governor at Rutgers University. Convicted in 1941 of income tax evasion, Johnson was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $20,000. He survived his criminal history thanks to Steve Buscemi, who played him in the HBO series forbidden empire.

By the way: In 2002, the Senate Ethics Committee issued a “severe reprimand” to U.S. Senator Robert Torricelli for accepting gifts, including a television and a stereo CD player, from a campaign donor. But Torricelli was not charged with a crime.

Atlantic City Mayors

Corruption flourished in the air, bringing down several Democratic city leaders and one Republican. Among them were:

Frank Gilliam

Gilliam, a combative figure, was sentenced to 30 days in jail in 2021. That was far less than the 15 to 21 months prosecutors sought to sentence him for defrauding AC Starz, the youth basketball team he founded. He was accused of using the proceeds to fund a lavish lifestyle that included designer suits and expensive dinners. “I stand before this court a broken man,” Gilliam told U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez over Zoom. “The mistake I made is not something I’m proud of.”

Richard Jackson

Jackson He admitted in U.S. District Court in 1973 that he participated in a conspiracy to defraud contractors who did business with the city. Jackson, then 64, pleaded guilty after changing his plea from not guilty to conspiracy to defraud contractors.

Bob Levy

Elected mayor in 2006 after serving as head of the Atlantic City Beach Patrol, Levy has exaggerated his military career in Vietnam. pleaded guilty for defrauding the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to receive benefits he was not entitled to. Levy was sentenced to three years probation and fined $5,000. He resigned as mayor on October 10, 2007. Levy became a national news story in 2007 after disappearing from Atlantic City for two weeks without a trace. It was later revealed that he had checked himself into a rehabilitation facility to receive treatment prescription drug addiction.

Michael Matthews

In 1984, Matthews was indicted on federal charges of using his office to extort $10,000 in bribes from an undercover FBI agent who posed as a real estate developer, according to Eagleton Policy Institute at Rutgers. Matthews was charged with attempting to profit for himself and alleged Philadelphia and South Jersey organized crime figures Nicodemo “Little Nicky” Scarfo and Philip “Crazy Phil” Leonetti. He was sent to prison later that year and served more than five years.

James Usry

In 1989, Usry, a Republican, and 13 other political leaders and business executives were arrested and charged with influence peddling, corruption and abuse of office after a seven-month state investigation. In 1991, Usry pleaded guilty to taking $6,000 in campaign cash without intending to report it and entered a pretrial intervention program that later allowed his records to be expunged, according to the Eagleton center.