Gerald Krovatin

United States District Court Judge Dennis Cavanaugh today threw out all of former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio’s post-trial motions to dismiss his indictment and conviction, according to U.S. Attorney spokesman Michael Drewniak.

Coniglio defense attorney Gerald Krovatin had filed several motions, most notably arguing that Coniglio was selectively prosecuted by former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie, who is now running for governor.  Cavanaugh ruled that Krovatin failed to show any evidence of discrimination,

“Judge Cavanaugh made the specific finding that Krovatin and Coniglio failed to show any discriminatory effect or intent in this office's prosecution of Coniglio and noted that Krovatin failed to identify any similarly situated individuals (in the legislature) who could have been but were not prosecuted in our investigation of Coniglio and others,” wrote Drewniak in an email to PolitickerNJ.com.

The decision effectively quashes a subpoena Krovatin sent to The Record seeking a recording and notes of Christie's interview by the newspaper's editorial board. 

The defense attorney for convicted former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) is trying to force The Record's parent company to turn over notes and recordings from its April editorial board meeting with Republican gubernatorial nominee Chris Christie.

The parent company, North Jersey Media Group, is trying to quash the subpoena.

The legal battle stems from attorney Gerald Krovatin's post-trial motion to dismiss the original federal indictment against Coniglio on the grounds of selective prosecution.

In April, Coniglio, who resigned from the legislature in 2007, was convicted of extortion and mail fraud for steering grants to Hackensack University Medical Center, which employed him as a consultant for $5,500 per month.  Christie was U.S. Attorney during the office's investigation of Coniglio and his subsequent indictment, though he resigned before the trial began.

After reading an April 30 story about Christie's meeting with The Record's editorial board the day before, Krovatin dropped a subpoena on the paper seeking all notes and recordings from the meeting, along with any documents that identified attendees.  The paper's story, he said, contained quotes from Christie that lent credence to his argument that Coniglio was selectively prosecuted.

NEWARK – Former U.S. Attorney Chris Christie won praise as the man whose office indicted former state Sen. Joe Coniglio (D-Paramus) on corruption charges, but in his closing argument, Defense Attorney Gerald Krovatin trains his sites on Christie’s opponent in the Republican gubernatorial primary. 

He derides former Bogota Mayor Steve Lonegan’s ethics complaints against Coniglio - a triggering mechanism in Coniglio's downfall - as “purely political.” 

“Lonegan took this to a new level in 2006, and 33 out of 34 complaints he filed only against Democrats,” Krovatin says of the Republican gubernatorial candidate.

Former state Sen. Joe Coniglio (D-Paramus)

UPDATED 

NEWARK – Now it’s Defense Counsel Gerald Krovatin’s turn, and when he stands before the jury he questions the vagueness and imprecision of the government’s case against his client, former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus).

Targeting the grand scheme theory leveled by the state against his client, “No disrespect to Joe Coniglio, but he’s no George Clooney,” says Krovatin, a reference to the movie actor’s role as a cunning thief in Ocean’s Eleven.

Emphasizing "intent," the lawyer's counter argument hinges on Coniglio's belief throughout that he wasn't doing anything wrong - a conviction confirmed by the testimony of at least one of Coniglio's key contacts at Hackensack University Medical Center, Krovatin says. 

“This whole notion about concealment is nonsense,” the attorney says of his ex-legislator-plumber client. “It’s a manufactured argument. Not one witness told you that they thought for one minute that they were doing anything wrong. …The argument that this was a grand scheme is nonsense. You have seen and heard all of the witnesses and all of the evidence in the case.”

The prosecution has charged a scheme in this case, says the defense attorney. The scheme is called an honest services, mail-fraud scheme. 

NEWARK - Charged with eight counts of corruption, Bergen County Democratic chairman Joseph Ferriero and Bergenfield attorney Dennis Oury made bail today on a $200,000 property bond ordered by federal Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo.

Indicted yesterday for their role in a grants scheme, Ferriero and Oury turned themselves over to the FBI today and appeared in Cox's courtroom around 2:30 p.m.

They stood with their attorneys in a pretrial appearance that laasted all of five minutes.

Gerald Krovatin of Newark is representing Oury, and Joseh Hayden of Roseland is representing Ferriero.

Each defendant said three words when Cox asked them if they understood the bail package agreement.

Asked today if former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio was cooperating with the federal probe of Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero and Democratic lawyer Dennis Oury, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie declined comment.  That'no surprise -- prosecutors typically refuse to reveal details of a criminal investigation. But if Coniglio is helping the Justice Department with their prosecution of Ferriero and Oury, one sign could be a change in lawyers.  Coniglio and Oury are both represented by Gerald Krovatin.  According to one legal expert, Krovatin would need to drop one of the two clients if their cases become intertwined. 

Bergen County dominates this week's PolitickerNJ.com Winners & Losers.  READ

NEWARK -Former Newark Mayor Sharpe James Lawyers for former Newark Mayor Sharpe James and Tamika Riley fought back in federal court today against depictions of their clients as intertwining strands of corruption in a fraud case the feds say James and Riley perpetrated against the people of Newark's struggling South Ward. 

Arguing on behalf of James, 72, defense attorney Tom Ashley said it was a Newark City Council top-heavy with James detractors, including the mayor's arch-nemesis Cory Booker, that repeatedly affirmed the sale of city properties to Riley.

"He's charged with unduly influencing the (Department of Economic Housing Development) on behalf of his girlfriend," Ashley told 19 jurors in the federal courtroom of District Judge William Martini on Monday afternoon. "There is no evidence, and we will fight it to the last day."

Former State Sen. Joe Coniglio will surrender to the FBI to face corruption charges at the Federal Courthouse in Newark later today, according to Coniglio spokesman Keith Furlong.

It is not yet known exactly what time Coniglio will turn himself in.

After his court apperance, Coniglio’s defense attorney, Gerald Krovatin, plans to issue a statement.