Mayor of New Jersey's capital arrested on corruption charge

TRENTON, New Jersey (Reuters) - The mayor of Trenton, New Jersey's state capital, was arrested at his home early on Monday and charged with public corruption in connection with a proposed parking garage on city-owned property, the FBI said.

Mayor Tony Mack, along with his brother Ralphiel Mack and longtime associate Joseph Giorgianni, are accused of plotting to accept $119,000 from a man posing as a developer, according to a copy of the criminal complaint obtained by the Star-Ledger newspaper and posted on its website.

The mayor's brother and Giorgianni acted as intermediaries to the purported parking garage developer and to his consultant, who were both cooperating with authorities, the complaint said.

Tony Mack, Ralphiel Mack and Giorgianni took $54,000 in cash bribes and anticipated getting the balance of $65,000, the complaint said.

Tony Mack was arrested at about 6:30 a.m. on Monday at his home in Trenton, said Barbara Woodruff, FBI spokeswoman in Newark, New Jersey. Giorgianni also was arrested on Monday, the FBI said. Ralphiel Mack turned himself in to authorities on Monday morning.

Giorgianni, who goes by the nicknames "JoJo" and "the Fat Man," told the purported consultant that the men were "'all looking to, uh, get healthy,' meaning make money, and that 'we been sick too long here,'" the complaint said.

The mayor has been under investigation since September 2010 by federal agents who used wiretaps to record meetings at JoJo's Steakhouse in Trenton, run by Giorgianni, and wiretaps on their telephones, the complaint said.

In July, FBI agents staged an early morning raid on Tony Mack's home and searched offices in City Hall.

Tony Mack, who the complaint said goes by the nicknames "the Little Guy" and "Napoleon," has been accused by critics of nepotism and mismanagement since taking office in 2010 in the crime-plagued, economically depressed city of 85,000.

After the FBI raid on his home in July, Tony Mack said he had done nothing wrong.

"We have not violated the public trust in any way," he said at the time. The mayor in July also denied to federal agents that he accepted any illegal cash, the complaint said.

In a search of Ralphiel Mack's home in July, federal agents found $2,500 in $100 bills with the same serial numbers as bills Giorgianni accepted from the purported consultant a month earlier, the complaint said.

In April, according to the complaint, Giorgianni told the purported consultant that the mayor was pleased with a bribe that had been paid.

"Yeah, oh yeah ... listen, you know money makes a blind man see," Giorgianni is quoted as saying.

Giorgianni also said the mayor could not be directly involved in the plot because he was "'under a microscope' due to public scrutiny," the complaint said.

An effort to recall Mack, a Democrat, failed last year when organizers did not get enough support to force a special election.

Mack was slated to appear before a federal magistrate in Trenton later on Monday, the FBI said.

(Writing by Ellen Wulfhorst, Editing by Eric Beech)

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Mayor of NJ's capital arrested in corruption probe

TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — Federal agents arrested the mayor of New Jersey's capital early Monday as part of a corruption investigation, alleging he agreed to accept bribes in connection with a proposed parking garage — actually a fake project created by authorities trying to capture him.

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack, his brother Ralphiel and convicted sex offender Joseph Giorgianni, a Mack supporter who owns a Trenton sandwich shop, were accused of conspiring to obstruct, delay and affect interstate commerce by extortion under color of official right.

Federal prosecutors alleged Mack agreed to use his influence in connection with a proposed parking garage in the city. The garage was made up — a fake project created by investigators to try to capture Mack, who has financial problems and attracted legal scrutiny since he took office.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said at a news conference Monday that the city-owned land for the garage was assessed at $271,000. He said Mack and Giorgianni agreed to accept $100,000 for the land for the city coffers — as long as the purported developers paid a bribe of $100,000 to be split between the two alleged conspirators.

A federal magistrate Monday ordered Mack released on $150,000 bond but ruled that he cannot leave the state while free on bail. Mack's attorney would not comment on the case.

Federal agents began working with an informant to gather information on Mack and the others in September 2010, just two months after Mack took office. Fishman would not say when the investigation began or why.

Fishman said investigators quickly understood the relationship between the mayor and the sandwich shop owner: "It became clear he was a bagman for the mayor."

The defendants received $54,000 and anticipated accepting an additional $65,000 from a cooperating witness who purported to be a developer, according to court documents that laid out the sting.

The criminal complaint portrays Giorgianni as a boastful man who did most of the talking with two FBI informants — one who was cooperating to get a better deal in his own criminal case, another who was paid.

The sting was similar to the massive "Bid Rig" sting that resulted in criminal charges against 46 people — many of them local officials — in 2009. Then, bribes were attached to fictitious development projects. Prosecutors have had mixed success in winning convictions.

Giorgianni complained at one point that Mack, 46, could not take bribes because he was being watched so closely, the documents said. "It's sickening," he told one of the informants, according to the court papers.

"I like to make money for my friends," he said, according to the papers, and went on to reference infamously corrupt political boss William M. Tweed. "I like to do it like the Boss Tweed way. You know Boss Tweed ran Tammany Hall?"

He was also caught on tape telling one of the informants: "One thing about the Mack administration — when I say that, it's me and Mack — we're not greedy. We're corruptible. We want anybody to make a buck," and "I'm there to buffer the thing where, you know, take the weight ... going to jail's my business. It ain't his."

By contrast, when Mack was recorded, it was mostly just to say he'd meet someone or exchanging pleasantries. But in April, he was recorded at a meeting with Giorgianni and one of the informants saying: "I really appreciate what you guys have done for us. I appreciate your support and, like before, I support you and I'll keep on supporting you."

Authorities say, though, that the short-in-stature Mack, whom Giorgianni referred to as "Napoleon," was involved in the scheme. One piece of evidence they offer is that Giorgianni referred to money by code — calling it "Uncle Remus" — when he spoke with Mack, and that Mack seemed to know what he was saying.

The complaint also said that $2,500 in $100 bills with the serial numbers of those given to Giorgianni were found in a search of Ralphiel Mack's home in July.

Tony Mack was taken to an FBI office in Hamilton for processing and was driven into a secure area of the federal courthouse in Trenton at around 11 a.m. He was due in court later in the afternoon.

His administration has been in turmoil from Day 1, staggering from one crisis to another. A housecleaning of staff at City Hall opened the door for Mack's own appointees, who quickly turned it into a revolving door.

Under an agreement reached last year, the Democrat may hire department heads only from a pool of applicants the state offers or he risks losing $6 million in state aid.

Under state law, he would be forced out of office if he is convicted. But activists in Trenton would like to see him step down immediately. "If he were smart, he'd resign," said Jerell Blakely, a former campaign manager for Mack who is now a critic. Blakely predicted Mack would not step down on his own.

The mayor and his brother could each face 20 years in prison if convicted.

Giorgianni and eight others were charged separately Monday with a scheme to distribute oxycodone from the sandwich shop, and he was also charged with weapon possession by a convicted felon. He went to prison in the 1980s on charges of carnally abusing and debauching the morals of a 14-year-old girl in the back of his shop.

The case gained notoriety because of weight-related health problems that got Giorgianni, a steakhouse owner who once claimed to tip the scale at over 500 pounds, released and led a prosecutor to charge he "ate his way out of jail."

He faces up to 50 years in prison if he's convicted on all charges.

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Follow Mulvihill at http://www.twitter.com/geoffmulvihill.

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Mayor of Trenton Arrested in Federal Corruption Probe

The Mayor of Trenton, New Jersey was arrested along with seven other people as the FBI prepares to unleash formal charges following a months-long corruption investigation. The suspects were taken into custody early on Monday morning, but the formal indictments will not be revealed until later today. 

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Mayor Tony Mack only took office a little over two years ago, but has faced nothing but trouble since assuming office. Allegations of cronyism and corruption began almost from the start of his term in July 2010, and several members of his staff have been arrested on various charges, including his chief of staff who was caught trying to buy heroin. He survived a recall election after his first year in office, but the FBI raided his home in July during the ongoing investigation. Mack's first city business administrator quit after just one month, accusing the mayor of not believing in "good government" while another employee sued, saying she was fired for refusing to give jobs to the mayor's friends.

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While authorities have withheld the actual charges so far, they are likely to focus on his campaign fundraising, which has raised questions given that Mack's home faced foreclosure and one of his biggest donors (who was among those arrested) is a convicted sex offender. 

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Morocco security officials arrested in corruption swoop

HEFEI, China/BEIJING (Reuters) - The Chinese woman accused of murdering British businessman Neil Heywood admitted guilt and blamed a mental breakdown for the events that brought her to trial and toppled her once-powerful politician husband, Bo Xilai, state media said on Friday. The first extended public comments on the …

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