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The Star-Ledger
Former state Sen.
Coniglio indicted
on corruption charges
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Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger
State Senator Joseph Coniglio arrives at FBI
Headquarters in Newark were he turned himself in on corruption
charges. |
by Jeff Whelan,
nj.com from the Web, February 14, 2008
A federal grand jury today indicted
former state Senator Joseph Coniglio on corruption charges, accusing him of
abusing a secretive legislative grant program at the Statehouse to enrich
himself.
Coniglio, a Bergen County Democrat, allegedly helped Hackensack University
Medical Center obtain millions of dollars in state funding in exchange for a
$5,000 per month-job as a "hospital relations" consultant, according to the
indictment. The 65-year-old retired plumber from Paramus had no prior
experience for such a job, authorities said.
He concealed the arrangement by omitting its details from his financial
disclosure statement and misleading the media about it, according to the
indictment. He also allegedly failed to disclose it to a state legislative
ethics committee that ultimately dropped its own investigation for lack of
evidence.
The nine counts of mail fraud and extortion against Coniglio are the first
charges to stem from a federal investigation U.S. Attorney Christopher
Christie's office launched one year ago with a flurry subpoenas that roiled the
Statehouse.
Coniglio, who served two terms but quit his re-election bid last September, was
a member of the Senate budget committee. He turned himself into the FBI
this afternoon and is expected to make his first appearance in federal court
later today.
He has repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Gerald Krovatin, his attorney, said he
would issue a statement later this afternoon.
The probe that ensnared Coniglio centers on the so-called "Christmas Tree"
program, which awarded millions of dollars in special state grants to local
organizations -- including some that put legislators or relatives on their
payrolls -- without public oversight.
The program, long a staple of Trenton's backroom deal making under both parties
was overhauled and had its funding slashed last year.
In November, federal agents raided Coniglio's Paramus home and legislative
office. And in January, the former state senator came under fire for using
$90,000 in campaign funds to pay his defense lawyer.
News of Coniglio's indictment comes after dozens of New Jersey state and local
officials have been charged in corruption probes during the last four years.
They include former Newark Mayor Sharpe James, Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera,
former state Sen. Wayne Bryant (D-Camden), former Monmouth County Freeholder
Harry Larrison Jr., former Keyport Mayor John J. Merla, former West Long Branch
Mayor Paul Zambrano and former Hazlet Mayor Paul Coughlin.
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