Rivera could get 18-24 months after pleading guilty to extortion
By Max Pizarro, PolitickerNJ.com ReporterThe Star-Ledger is reporting that Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera today in federal court pleaded guilty to corruption charges and faces up to 18-24 months in prison.
Caught in an FBI sting last year, Rivera, 61, pleaded guilty to one count of extortion after being accused of accepting $5,000 in cash from a dummy insurance brokerage firm.
Rivera resigned as mayor of Passaic, effective at 5 p.m. today, according to the Star-Ledger.
U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson continued Rivera’s release on a $200,000 bond pending his sentencing, which is scheduled for Aug. 15. Rivera was arrested on Sept. 6, 2007, along with 10 other public officials and one private citizen. The arrests were part of a public corruption investigation that progressed from southern to northern New Jersey. “By his own conduct, Mr. Rivera added himself to the growing roster of corrupt public officials in New Jersey,” said U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie. “The citizens of Passaic deserved better.”
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