11-21-05 -- O'Grady, Raymond J. -- Indictment -- News Release

Middletown Committeeman O'Grady Indicted in Monmouth County Corruption Probe

NEWARK - A Middletown committeeman arrested in February in a federal probe of corruption in Monmouth County was indicted today on charges of attempted extortion under color of official right, conspiracy and other charges, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Raymond J. O'Grady, who allegedly told undercover agents that he could "smell" a cop from "a mile away," was charged with accepting $6,000 in payments from those agents on behalf of someone O'Grady believed was a corrupt contractor seeking business in Middletown.

The Indictment adds allegations that were not originally charged when O'Grady was arrested last February. The Indictment alleges that O'Grady, formerly the director of the Central Motor Pool for the County of Monmouth, also took cash payments from representatives of a trucking company that did business with the county.

O'Grady was charged with two counts of attempted extortion under color of official right, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; two counts of accepting a bribe to influence and reward, each of which carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; and one count of conspiracy to extort, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Counts One and Two, charging extortion, concern two separate payments O'Grady allegedly took from undercover FBI agents whom O'Grady believed worked for a contractor who also purported to be involved in loansharking, money laundering and trafficking of stolen alcohol and cigarettes. The first payment came on Oct. 21, 2004, when O'Grady accepted $1,000 from the undercover agents. Six days earlier, O'Grady was recorded at a meeting in a Freehold restaurant with the undercover agents.

During that earlier recorded conversation, according to the Indictment, O'Grady agreed to accept future cash payments in exchange for his official assistance as a public official in Middletown. He allegedly told the undercover agents that he could "smell" a cop from "a mile away," did not "talk in the open," and did not do "stupid things."

O'Grady allegedly accepted the second cash payment - $5,000 - from the undercover agents on Feb. 17, 2005, at a Freehold restaurant. The payment was in exchange for O'Grady's official assistance in securing Middletown municipal contracts, including emergency contract work. Count Thee of the Indictment, charging accepting a bribe to influence or reward, relates to that payment.

Count Four of the Indictment concerns O'Grady's alleged conspiracy with a county official - identified in the Indictment only as Official 1 - to extort money from the owner of a truck company doing business with Monmouth County. In exchange for corrupt payments, O'Grady allegedly ordered unnecessary equipment and supplies from the truck company and approved payment of inflated or false charges from the truck company.

On unspecified occasions, O'Grady accepted cash payments of up to approximately $2,000 - around the time of his vacations - and took the payments at various locations in New Jersey, including the truck company's offices in Hillside and Howell Township.

Count Five charges bribery based on O'Grady's alleged acceptance of a $2,000 cash bribe, which he shared with Official 1, from a truck company representative.

Despite Indictment, all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI's Red Bank Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr., for their continuing work in the Monmouth County corruption investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James Nobile and A. Matthew Boxer of the U.S. Attorney's Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

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Defense Counsel: Mitchell Ansell, Esq.