2002-12-11 -- Braker, William -- Indictment -- News Release

Hudson County Freeholder and Former Jersey City Police Lieutenant Indicted for Taking Corrupt Payments and Mail Fraud

NEWARK - William C. Braker, a Hudson County Freeholder and former deputy director of the Jersey City Police Department, was arrested today on an Indictment charging him with accepting cash bribes from a county vendor, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Braker, 56, was arrested about 9 a.m. this morning at his home in Jersey City by Special Agents of the FBI.

Braker is scheduled to make an initial appearance at 2 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo. Braker 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. Attorneys Jeffrey D Clark and Phillip Kwon.

The federal investigation of corruption in Hudson County is continuing, Christie said.

"This is another sad example of an elected official charged with selling his office and abusing the public trust," Christie said. "Mr. Braker's background as a police officer makes the activity described in the Indictment particularly egregious."

The seven-count Indictment alleges that Braker solicited and accepted bribes in the form of cash payments in exchange for voting on the vendor's contracts with Hudson County in 1999 and 2000, and for using his influence to assist the vendor in obtaining a contract with the Jersey City Police Department. Braker had been a Hudson County Freeholder since 1987 and, at the time of the cash payments, was a Deputy Director of the Jersey City Police Department, holding the rank of lieutenant.

Braker was re-elected Freeholder in November. Before the election Braker had announced that he would be resigning as freeholder, citing a federal investigation. Upon re-election, however, he rescinded his resignation and remains a freeholder.

According to the Indictment, Braker accepted cash payments and benefits totaling $4,880 from the vendor on three separate occasions. In these instances, Braker agreed to support and vote in favor of the vendor's contracts with Hudson County when they came up for renewal and to use his influence as a high-ranking member of the Jersey City Police Department to help the vendor obtain a contract with that department.

After receiving a cash payment on one occasion, Braker allegedly told the vendor, "I try and tell people invest five or six thousand for a three-hundred-thousand-dollar contract; you're way ahead of the game." The vendor received contracts with both Hudson County and the Jersey City Police Department.

Throughout the period that Braker was under investigation, the vendor had been voluntarily cooperating with the FBI. According to the Indictment, numerous conversations between the vendor and Braker were consensually recorded, and two of the three cash payments were captured on video tape as well.

Counts One to Three of the Indictment charge that Braker attempted to extort cash payments from the vendor under color of official right. Each of these counts carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Counts Four to Seven of the Indictment charge that Braker's conduct was part of a scheme to defraud the public of its right to the honest services of their elected and public officials. These latter counts charge mail fraud, in that the U.S. mails were used to further the scheme and to conceal the corrupt payments made to Braker. Each of these counts carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Despite the 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. Grand jury proceedings are secret, and neither persons under investigation nor their attorneys has 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 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 Louie F. Allen, for their work in developing the case. Christie also thanked the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Police Director James Carter, for its cooperation in the investigation.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeffrey D. Clark and Phillip Kwon, of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark.

-end-

Defense Attorney:

Thomas Ashley, Esq. Jersey City

and Henry Klingeman, Esq. Madison