In guilty plea, Jersey City official says he arranged bribes between cooperating witness and Council President
By EditorTwo Jersey City officials arrested in the July 23 corruption sweep pleaded guilty today to accepting bribes in exchange for real estate development approvals.
Maher Khalil, the city's former Assistant Director of Health and Human Services, admitted he accepted more than $72,000 from a federal cooperating witness, believed to be Solomon Dwek. Guy Catrillo, a city planning department official who unsuccessfully challenged City Councilman Steven Fulop last spring, said he took $15,000 in bribes from the same cooperating witness.
Khalil admitted to arranging meetings between the cooperating witness and several local officials who would, in exchange for bribes, exercise influence over development projects. He specifically identified Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega and Edward Cheatam, and said he converted cash payments into illegal campaign contributions from straw donors to Vega's re-election campaign.
"We are pleased with the progress we witnessed today and with the investigation as a whole," said Acting U.S. Attorney Ralph Marra. "There's still plenty to do and we will press on accordingly."
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Catrillo vs Fulop
So the guy Healy hand picked to run against Fulop and ran on a platform of "i will do what Healy needs done" pleads Guilty. I bet Cory Booker is sorry he showed up to the path station on the Eve of the election to Campaign with Guy Catrillo and Healy. He stood there and told people"Gerry needs Guy to get elected to help keep Jersey City Moving in the right direction" Guy's slogan was "He's our Guy" Well the FBI is now saying the same thing.
Suprise!
More of Corzine's friends going down, watch out Gov your next. Save NJ DUMP CORZINE!!
Janitor are you that dumb?
Janitor, you don't think Fulop cut a deal to put up this marshmallow against him?
Benedict is correct
During the campaign, Fulop:
1. Did not attack Healy (the anti-reformer)
2. Did not endorse Levin (the reformer)
In exchange for peaceful co-existence, both camps got to spend a whole lot less in Ward E and there was probably some groundwork for working together in the future (at-large, council prez, etc). After the feds stepped in, all bets were off.
Now Fulop's main obstacle is Levin and not splitting the reformer coalition. Throw in Bruce Alston and things are a whole lot more complicated for the anti-HCDOs. Not unsurmountable, but they are going to have to broker some deals.
enoch_needles = Rip Van Winkle?
Good morning enoch. You must have had a very long nap. Did you not listen to Fulop as he talked incessantly about "the machine" and the countless stands he's taken against it? Who is the embodiment of that machine in Hudson County, if not Healy?
As for Levin, he is 100% unelectable. To be electable, you either need to be able to raise a ton of cash or be one very charming, charasmatic guy. Levin has major deficits in both departments. Fulop had almost twice as many votes in Ward E as Levin had citywide. Why would anyone serious endorse Levin? And Alston? Get serious. The man has a long way to go before he even earns the title "hack."
everyone blasts "the machine"
yet everyone wants their own.
by specifically not endorsing manzo (who he endorsed for senator over sandy) or levin (supposedly a brother in arms, reformwise), fulop tacitly endorsed the incumbent. to see fulop and healy play nice during the campaign (now is a different story and a new campaign) and not think there was a deal, or at least an understanding (regardless of what they'd both say now) is naive. this is hudson county after all.
don't think i'm condemning him - he'll make a great mayor someday, but it's going to take at least another and maybe 2 election cycles. right now it looks like he doesn't have much competition, but of such political vacuums are surprises like bret schundler born - someone who comes out of nowhere and takes advantage of the chaos.
as for levin and alston, while neither could win citywide (and there's doubt that fulop can either, btw), they can pull enough votes to be a factor. if healy survives and doesn't run again, it's unlikely that there will be the same margin of victory in the next mayoral election. even a few thousand votes can make the difference between outright victory, runoff, or defeat.
Fulop a reformer... Not!
Don't be fool, Fulop is no reformer. He's more concerned at tying the hands of any future competition by calling it reform. If Fulop is supposed to be a reformer, then why did he give a campaign donation to the indicted Jimmy King, who was already known to have shaken down city employees. Fulop is supposed to be a city councilman, King was a a city director at the time he was shaking down city employees. Donating to King money just shows Fulop had no problem with those widely reported facts.