NEWARK — Solomon Dwek, the federal informer behind the biggest federal corruption sting in New Jersey history, is out of prison and back home. Less than 30 months after being sentenced to six years behind bars—far more than prosecutors were seeking—Dwek this week was let go from the federal prison in Cumberland, Md., and after initially… Read the rest of this entry »
Monmouth County Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw, Jr was nominated by Governor Chris Christie to become a Superior Court Judge on June 14. The Senate Judiciary Committee will hold his confirmation hearing today. He is likely to be confirmed by the full Senate before the end of the week, ending his 18 month tenure as county prosecutor.
First Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Gramiccioni is expected to be nominated to replace Warshaw as the chief prosecutor in Monmouth County. Word in the legal community is that Gramiccioni, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney under Christie, was the governor’s first choice to become Monmouth County Prosecutor in 2010 but that he was 18 months short of the residency requirements.
Former Monmouth County Sheriff Joe Oxley, also former Monmouth GOP Chairman, was nominated to the Court on May 14. Oxley’s confirmation has yet to be scheduled by the Democratically controlled Judiciary Committee, due in part to a Star Ledger report that federal informant Soloman Dwek accused Oxley, Senator Joe Kyrillos and Assemblywoman Amy Handlin of trading favors for campaign contributions.
Dwek’s allegations were revealed in discovery documents in the civil case of former Hudson County Assemblyman Louis Manzo who unsuccessly sued the U.S. Attorney’s office to recover $100K in legal fees that resulted Manzo’s 2009 Operation Bid Rig indictments. Manzo was accused under the Hobbs Act of accepting bribes from Dwek in exchange for future help in zoning and permit applications should Manzo be elected Jersey City Mayor. Manzo was running for Mayor for the fifth time when the alleged bribe occurred. Federal Judge Jose Linares threw out the charges on the basis that the Hobbs Act applied only to elected officials, not candidates. The Appellate Court affirmed Linares’ ruling.
The discovery documents in Manzo’s civil case miraculously found their way to the Star Ledger in what Kyrillos called an “oppo (opposition research) dump” by U. S. Senator Robert Menedez’s reelection campaign. Kyrillos is the GOP nominee to unseat Menendez and a minority member of the State Senate Judiciary Committee which reviews judicial nominations.
Expect the Judiciary Committee to schedule Oxley’s confirmation hearing in September or October as the general election campaign is heating up. Democratic Senator Ray Lesniak has called for Dwek, who is in federal prison, to testify at Oxley’s hearing. That would put Kyrillos, as a member of the committee and also accused by Dwek of trading favors for contributions, in a hot seat at the height of the U.S. Senate campaign.
In another potential twist in this tangled web, Gramiccioni was one of the federal prosecutors working on the Bid Rig investigations, including Manzo’s, according to Bob Ingle and Michael Symons in Chris Christie: The Inside Story Of His Rise To Power (page 90). Should Gramiccioni be nominated Monmouth County Prosecutor, as expected, his nomination will also be subject to a Judiciary Committee hearing.
Gramiccioni’s wife, Deborah, is Governor Christie’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Cabinet Liason.
Posted: June 25th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Monmouth County, Monmouth County Court, Monmouth County Prosecutor, NJ Courts, NJ Judiciary, NJ State Legislature | Tags: Christopher Gramiccioni, Deborah Gramiccioni, Governor Chris Christie, Joe Kyrillos, Joe Oxley, NJ Senate Judiciary Committee, Peter Warshaw, Robert Menendez, Senator Ray Lesniak, Solomon Dwek, Star Ledger | 5 Comments »
“Senator Kyrillos has built a sterling reputation throughout his career, and this is a shameless oppo dump from the Menendez political machine. The fact of the matter is that Senator Kyrillos never did anything to help this man at any time. And furthermore, the second it was clear that this man was a con man, Senator Kyrillos, unlike others, immediately gave his campaign contribution to charity and documented that with the Election Law Enforcement Commission.”
Posted: June 12th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: 2012 U.S. Senate Race, Bob Menendez, Joe Kyrillos | Tags: Bob Menendez, Joe Kyrillos, Solomon Dwek | 1 Comment »Swarmy swindler Solomon Dwek told federal investigators in 2006 that Joe Oxley, Joe Kyrillos and Amy Handlin were in his pocket, according to a Star Ledger report posted on NJ.com Monday night.
Dwek’s claims became public in an FBI report prepared in August of 2006 that was recently released after former Hudson County Assemblyman Louis Manzo unsuccessfully sued the U. S Attorney’s office to recover $100,000 in legal fees that resulted from his July 2009 Operation Bid Rig arrest. Manzo had been indicted twice in the Bid Rig III scandal but all charges against him were eventually dismissed, according to Bob Ingle and Michael Symons writing in their just released biography of Chris Christie.
Dwek alleged that Oxley, while Monmouth County Sheriff, tipped him off about upcoming foreclosures two weeks before the information became public, thereby giving Dwek an advantage in purchasing the properties before the foreclosure auctions. The FBI’s subsequent investigation of Oxley found no wrong doing.
Oxley is the Monmouth County GOP Chairman until Tuesday evening. He has been nominated by Governor Chris Christie to be a Superior Court Judge. Christie was U.S. Attorney during the investigation of Oxley.
Posted: June 12th, 2012 | Author: Art Gallagher | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Amy Handlin, Chris Chrisite, Joe Kyrillos, Joe Oxley, Solomon Dwek | 8 Comments »© Copyright 2024 | MoreMonmouthMusings | All Rights Reserved