2002-06-06 -- Auriemma, Joseph -- Indictment -- News Release

Former North Bergen Township Administrator Joseph Auriemma Indicted for Taking Corrupt Payments and Witness Tampering

NEWARK - Former North Bergen Township administrator and North Bergen Municipal Utilities Authority director of operations Joseph Auriemma was indicted today for accepting more than $35,000 in cash payments and free work on his residences, and for attempted witness tampering, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Auriemma, 54, was not arrested by federal authorities and will not be making a court appearance today. Auriemma is expected to be arraigned on the Indictment within the next two weeks before the U.S. District Judge to whom the case is assigned, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey D. Clark, Deputy Chief of the Criminal Division.

The six-count Indictment alleges that Auriemma solicited and accepted bribes in the form of cash payments and free work on his Bloomfield home and vacation home in Wildwood in exchange for using his influence to assist the vendor in obtaining contracts and payments under the contracts.

"Unfortunately, this is another allegation of a public official on the take in New Jersey," Christie said. "Hopefully, other public officials will begin to get the message that neither this office, the FBI nor the public will put up with this any longer. It's time for New Jersey to shake the reputation of a place where public corruption thrives. As I think I've demonstrated to date, you can count on my continued, active participation to that end."

The investigation into public corruption in Hudson County is continuing.

Auriemma resigned as North Bergen's full-time administrator on Feb. 28, and returned shortly afterward in a part-time capacity. Auriemma also resigned as the North Bergen MUA's operations director but was subsequently hired by that agency as a consultant.

According to the Indictment, between 1993 and 2000, Auriemma had the vendor perform free work on his personal residence, including a new roof, a renovated bathroom, a new outdoor shed, renovations to the garage, a new air conditioning condenser unit, and a new furnace. The Indictment also alleges that the vendor provided a free air conditioner/heater at Auriemma's vacation home. In addition to the free work, the Indictment charges that between 1995 and 1998, Auriemma took cash bribes ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 from the vendor. All totaled, the value of the free work and cash bribes, as described in detail in the Indictment, was more than $35,000.

Between 1995 and 2001, the vendor's businesses received revenues of approximately $1.95 million from North Bergen Township and approximately $537,619 from the MUA.

According to the Indictment, Auriemma not only took steps to ensure the vendor received numerous contracts with North Bergen and the North Bergen MUA, but also engaged in activities to cover up the illegal conduct. The Indictment charges that Auriemma participated in the creation of bogus documentation to make it appear as if contracts were awarded on a competitive basis when, in reality, they were not. It alleges that Auriemma wrote checks to make it appear as if he had paid for work done on his home but then received the money back in a cash payment.

Auriemma is also alleged to have attempted to persuade the contractor, during a July 2001 meeting at Auriemma's Bloomfield home, to conceal his corrupt relationship with the contractor.

In that conversation - which was recorded by the vendor, who was then cooperating in the corruption investigation - Auriemma allegedly created numerous false stories for the vendor and others to tell law enforcement authorities so they could be "on the same page," in explaining the free home improvements and contracts awarded to the contractor.

Auriemma is also alleged to have falsely completed financial disclosure forms required of public officials in order to conceal his illegal activities.

The Indictment further charges that Auriemma was aware that the vendor from whom he was accepting bribes was fraudulently overbilling North Bergen and the North Bergen MUA and, in some instances, told the vendor to "make up" the cost of bribes by overbilling on the contracts.

Finally, the Indictment charges Auriemma with witness tampering, for attempting, in a recorded conversation, to cover up the free work and cash payments by attempting to persuade the vendor to provide false and misleading information to law enforcement officials who might question the vendor and other witnesses to the corrupt payments.

The specific charges in the Indictment are:

• Counts One through Four, mail fraud (18 USC §§ 1341 and 1346), each of which carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

• Count Five, Extortion Under Color of Official Right (18 USC § 1951), which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

• Count Six, Attempted Corrupt Persuasion of Another (18 USC § 1512(b)(3)), which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Despite Indictment, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and federal law.

An Indictment is a formal charge made by a grand jury, a body of 16 to 23 citizens, Christie noted. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and neither persons under investigation nor their attorneys have the right to be present. A grand jury may vote an Indictment if 12 or more jurors find probable cause to believe that the defendant has committed the crime or crimes charged.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, the judge to whom this case is assigned would, upon conviction, determine an actual sentence based upon a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, and the defendant's criminal history, if any.

Parole, however, has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI in Newark, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Gregory Jones, for their work in the ongoing investigation of corruption in Hudson County. Christie also credited the Hudson County Public Corruption Task Force comprised of agents from the FBI; the IRS Criminal Investigation section, under the direction of Special Agent Anne D. Fahy, and detectives from the New Jersey State Police, for their efforts in this investigation.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Clark, of the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division in Newark.

Defense Attorney: John Whipple, Esq. Morristown