Craig Callaway

Callaway Ally Still Sits on Atlantic County Board of Elections

Frank Barbera, the former Atlantic County GOP Treasurer, was arrested on bribery charges
Frank Barbera, the former Treasurer of the Atlantic County Republican Party and a political ally of County Executive Dennis Levinson, was arrested by FBI agents this week on bribery charges, a month after a suicide attempt. He was found in his car with what police described as a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his chest.

Barbera is accused of offering a $5,000 bribe to Craig Callaway in 2005, while Callaway was serving as the Atlantic City Council President. Callaway is now serving a 40-month sentence following his own bribery conviction.

Atlantic County Republican chairman Keith A. Davis today called on Assemblyman Jim Whelan, Democrat Senate candidate, “to explain why he accepted a $1,500 campaign contribution from Terry Jacobs, the individual who paid bribes to public officials and went to prison on drug distribution charges.”

If not for his criminal conviction, Craig Callaway would be taking office as the Mayor of Atlantic City.  He resigned as City Council President last year after being sentenced to 40 months in a federal prison for accepting bribes.  

Callaway was one of several recent Atlantic City Councilmen to be convicted on corruption charges: Gibb Jones got five years on probation for extortion and Ramon Rosario was sentenced to ten months in prison for taking bribes. Another Councilman, Martin Small, was aquitted.

The Democratic legislative candidates in the second district today called for the immediate resignations of the elected officials accused today in the Pleasantville, Essex, and Passaic corruption scandal.

"The elected officials named in today's indictment should resign immediately" said Assemblyman James Whelan, who is running for the State Senate.   "This type of deplorable behavior cannot be tolerated. We need to send a clear message that these actions will not be accepted. The officials involved should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of law. If convicted, their pensions should be seized, and any money illegally obtained should be returned to the taxpayers."

Jim Whelan's campaign says that the arrests of five current or former Pleasantville Board of Education members today helps his campaign, but GOP State Senator James "Sonny" McCullough disagrees. Among the eleven arrested was Maurice "Pete" Callaway, the brother of jailed ex-Atlantic City Councilman Craig Callaway.

"Whelan’s been fighting these Callaway factions," said Raiyan Syed, spokesman for Whelan, a Democratic Assemblyman and former Atlantic City Mayor who is running for the Senate. "Craig Callaway’s locked up in jail and Jim Whelan’s going to be the next state senator."

McCullough says that the Callaway organization has worked on behalf of Whelan and the local Democratic Party.

Jayson Adams of Pleasantville, who last week lost his re-election bid as president of the Pleasantville School Board, today canceled his run for Atlantic County Freeholder, and provided one more sign that the political machinery of former Atlantic City Council President Craig Callaway is grinding to a halt.

It also means Charles Garrett, backed by Assemblyman Jim Whelan's Democratic Reform Team, will run unopposed in the Democratic Primary.

Former Atlantic City Councilman Craig Callaway was sentenced today to 40 months in a federal prison for taking bribes from an undercover FBI agent.  He also admitted that he played a role in the videotaping of Atlantic City Councilman Eugene Robinson and an alleged prostitute in an Atlantic City hotel.

A COMMENTARY BY ATLANTIC COUNTY REPUBLICAN CHAIRMAN KEITH A. DAVIS

ATLANTIC SHERIFF PRAISES CONVICTED FELON