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The New York Times
New Jersey Mayor and
Wife
Are Accused of
Extortion
By JONATHAN MILLER,
nytimes.com on the Web. September 29, 2007
A North Jersey mayor and his wife
have been indicted on federal charges of conspiracy to commit extortion and
conspiracy to commit mail fraud. They are accused of extorting gifts and
cash that paid for gambling, plastic surgery and a dog.
Mayor David Delle Donna, 49, of Guttenberg, a tiny town wedged into populous
Hudson County, surrendered to federal agents yesterday in Newark. He and
his wife, Anna Delle Donna, 58, appeared in court and were released on $100,000
bail. They are accused of accepting the gifts and money from a bar owner
in exchange for political favors.
“We have stated loud and clear that we are not guilty of the charges, and we
will proceed,” Mr. Delle Donna’s lawyer, Ralph J. Lamparello, said yesterday.
Ms. Delle Donna has her own lawyer.
Mr. Delle Donna is now part of an expanding list of politicians investigated by
Christopher J. Christie, the United States attorney. Earlier this month,
11 officials were indicted on bribery charges, accused of trying to influence
the awarding of public contracts. Included in that group were the mayor of
Passaic, two members of the General Assembly and five members of an Atlantic
County school board.
This case is unrelated to the others. Mr. Delle Donna, who is a Democrat,
and Ms. Delle Donna, a member of the town’s planning board, each face up to 20
years in prison on both counts and a fine of $250,000.
From 2002 to 2005, according to the indictment, they helped the bar owner smooth
over problems she was having with the local police and other officials involving
matters like fights outside the bar and alcohol board violations. In
exchange, the bar owner provided Ms. Delle Donna with $2,000 for cosmetic
surgery and several thousand dollars for gambling in Atlantic City, according to
the indictment. Other items included $1,000 in gift cards to a department
store and $1,000 for a dog and accessories.
The bar owner, Luisa Medrano, 51, was not named in the indictment, but officials
have confirmed that she was the individual in question.
The bar — El Puerto de la Union, on Bergenline Avenue — and Ms. Medrano had
previously been the subject of an unrelated federal investigation involving the
trafficking of illegal immigrant women from Honduras, some as young as 14, who
were forced to dance and drink with patrons, according to federal officials.
Last September, Ms. Medrano pleaded guilty to two counts of harboring illegal
immigrants and tax evasion. She has not yet been sentenced.
Officials declined to say whether Mr. Delle Donna knew of the trafficking ring
before investigators uncovered it. “I can’t answer that,” said Thomas R.
Calcagni, an assistant United States attorney prosecuting the case.
The indictment asserts that Mr. Delle Donna illegally diverted campaign funds
from various contributors. How much money was diverted was unclear, Mr. Calcagni
said.
In January, federal agents raided Town Hall and the Delle Donnas’ house in
Guttenberg. They carried away rifles, computers and files.
At the time, Mr. Delle Donna asserted that he would be cleared. “I don’t
believe I’ve done anything illegal,” he told The Hudson Reporter. “I feel
I’ll be exonerated.”
Mr. Delle Donna is paid $6,700 a year as mayor and is also the coordinator of
maintenance at the Hudson County Schools of Technology in North Bergen. He
is the mayor of one of the smallest towns in New Jersey: Guttenberg is 11
blocks long and 4 blocks wide and has a population of 10,800.
This is not the first time the small town has been hit by political scandal.
In 2003, a former mayor, Peter LaVilla, pleaded guilty to misappropriating
campaign funds and using the money for a private brokerage account after an
investigation by the United States attorney’s office. In 2002, a
councilman accused of receiving illegal advances on his salary resigned,
although he was never formally charged. The same year, the town’s chief
financial officer pleaded guilty to misappropriation of funds.
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