Former state Sen. Coniglio indicted on corruption charges (original) (raw)

William Perlman/The Star-Ledger

(Left to right) Attorney Gerald Krovatin leaves the courthouse with his client, NJ Senator Joseph Coniglio after the indictment at the Federal Courthouse in Newark.

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.

Coniglio maintained his innocence this afternoon.

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.

"Trading personally on a position of public trust continues as an epidemic in New Jersey," Christie said today. "The allegations against Senator Coniglio in this indictment paint a disgraceful picture of exchanging public tax dollars for personal gain. The public has had more than enough of this type of conduct."

Coniglio, who served two terms but quit his re-election bid last September, was a member of the Senate budget committee. He surrendered at FBI headquarters in Newark this afternoon.

Wearing a gray pinstriped suit and black loafers and shackled at his wrists and ankles, Coniglio made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Shipp this afternoon. The judge released him on a $250,000 bond secured by the equity in the former senator's Paramus home.

He faces up to 20 years in jail and a $250,000 fine, according to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Calcagni and Jeffrey Chiesa.

After the hearing, Coniglio appeared before reporters alongside his attorney, Gerald Krovatin, who said his client denies all of the charges and was a strong supporter of Hackensack University Medical Center, the largest employer in Bergen County, before and after he was on hospital payroll.

"He is an innocent man. Everyone who knows him, including his former colleagues in the State Legislature, know that he was and honest and honorable public servant," Krovatin said. "Joe Coniglio didn't compromise his position as a state senator for the hospital or anyone else."

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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