Corruption in New Jersey

FBI agents set up a phony company in New Jersey in an effort to sting those responsible for receiving payments from companies that offered insurance brokerage or roofing services to school districts and municipalities. The FBI dummy company established an undercover insurance brokerage company purporting to employ the government's two cooperating witnesses and undercover agents. CNN reports:

(CNN) -- Two mayors and two state legislators are among 11 public officials arrested in New Jersey as part of a corruption investigation, the U.S. attorney's office in Trenton announced Thursday.

"The defendants allegedly demanded and accepted payments ranging from $1,500 to $17,500 at any one time," the release from the U.S. attorney's office alleges. "In most cases, the defendants sought to establish and perpetuate a corrupt relationship with the cooperating witnesses to continue receiving bribes."

State Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Alfred E. Steele -- both Democrats -- and
Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera are among those arrested, the news release says.

Steele also serves as undersheriff in Passaic County, just outside Newark. Hackett is also mayor of Orange.

Also arrested were Keith O. Reid, the chief of staff to the Newark City Council president, Passaic Councilman Marcellus Jackson and former Passaic Councilman Jonathan Soto, the release states.

Five current and former school board members in Pleasantville, just outside Atlantic City, were arrested, too: Jayson G. Adams, James T. McCormick, James A. Pressley, Rafael Velez and Maurice Callaway, who also serves on the City Council.

Suprisingly the CNN report does mention the political affiliatin of the accused, Democrats, but only once in the entire article. Of course we knew the accussed were Democrats because the party affiliation wasn't splashed for all to see in the headline or right behind each os the accussed names.

The arrested will begin making appearances before U.S. Magistrate Judge Tonianne Bongiovanni at 2 p.m. Thursday. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie and FBI agent Weysan Dun are expected to hold a 3:30 p.m. news conference afterward in front of the federal courthouse in Trenton.