The defendants include two New Jersey Assemblymen, current and former city and school officials, and the chief of staff to the president of the Newark City Council.
The FBI established phony insurance brokerage and roofing contractor operations as part of a sting that included staff with government informants and FBI agents. The investigation began in mid-2006 when the FBI developed evidence of corruption within the Pleasantville School District. When the undercover agents approached school officials, the officials allegedly accepted bribes and then referred the agents to other public officials in the state, who accepted bribes and directed the agents to additional public officials, according to Mr. Christie’s statement.
The defendants were to appear before a U.S. magistrate in Trenton. They are: Orange Mayor and state Assemblyman Mims Hackett, Jr.; Assemblyman and Passaic County Undersheriff Alfred E. Steele; Passaic Mayor Samuel “Sammy” Rivera; former Passaic City Councilman Jonathan Soto; Passaic City Councilman Marcellus Jackson; Keith O. Reid, chief of staff to the Newark City Council president; and current and former Pleasantville school board members Jayson G. Adams, Maurice “Pete” Callaway—also a Pleasantville City Council member, James T. McCormick, James A. Pressley, Rafael Velez and Louis Mister.