Joseph Coniglio

The Record is reporting that "jurors have reached a verdict on all counts but one" in the federal corruption trial of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio, but are deadlocked on the one charge.  "The juror's note said that they have been working on that charge all day," according to the report.

Update: The Record says that U.S. District Court Judge Dennis Cavanaugh instructed jurors to return at 9AM Friday morning to continue their deliberations.

Two things will happen today for sure: New Jerseyans will pay their federal and state income tax returns, and a multitude of local, state, and federal politicians will issue press releases talking about how taxes are too high.  Some of those offering comment will undoubtedly be elected officials who have voted to raise taxes. 

Other things to watch for today: will the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission transfer funds to Steve Lonegan's campaign for Governor? Will the jury reach a verdict in the federal corruption trial of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus)? Will Mercer County Republicans find a new State Assembly candidate to run in the fourteenth district?  After all, it's been a day since that has happened.

• Chris Christie attends fundraiser by lawyer who benefitted from no-bid contract
• GOP candidate Steve Lonegan mails dollar bills to potential donors
• Jury in Coniglio corruption trial reaches no verdict after first day of deliberations

The legal defense team of former State Sen./plumbing consultant Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) has an interesting strategy to convince jurors that Coniglio is innocent:  they had two of Coniglio's former colleagues testify that he lacked the juice to deliver very much money from the state budget to his client, Hackensack University Medical Center.  Former Senate Majority Leader Bernard Kenny (D-Hoboken) told the jury that only the Governor, the Senate President and the Assembly Speaker actually have the power to deliver, while Senate Judiciary Chairman Paul Sarlo (D-Wood-Ridge) said that a legislative spreadsheet which credited Coniglio for some of the appropriations items was inaccurate, suggesting that others, including Sarlo, were really the ones responsible.

In case you missed it, today’s must-read story is the coverage of former state Sen. Joseph Coniglio’s (D-Paramus) corruption trial.

• Witness: There was no need to hire Coniglio
• Witness calls hiring of Coniglio all a sham

Prosecution witness Robert Torre, who headed up the Hackensack University Medical Center’s (HUMC) fundraising arm, testified that he did not have any need to hire Coniglio as a $5,000-per-month consultant, but did so at the urging of HUMC President and CEO Robert Torree and governing board members Joseph Simunovich and Joseph Sanzari.

Former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio was indicted last year on federal corruption charges.

The selection of a jury in the federal corruption trial of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) begins today.  Coniglio dropped his bid for re-election to a third term in the Senate in 2007 after word leaked that he was the target of a federal probe.  He was indicted last year on charges that he helped steer state budget funds to the Hackensack University Medical Center, where he was on payroll as a plumbing consultant.

Gov. Jon Corzine

HACKENSACK – It was a day of promise nearly two years ago that turned dismal fast, and in retrospect could be read as just one more stage in the unraveling of a party machine, whose new-look leader is now attempting to reverse months of bad news. 

On Thursday night, the Bergen County Democratic Organization (BCDO) overwhelmingly endorsed Jon Corzine for another term as governor, thereby kicking into motion the organization’s own official low-drama contribution to Corzine’s inaugural reelection effort. 

The governor appeared at the party's convention, and spoke in gratitude.

Bergen's unified front comes 23 months after Corzine attempted to make whole an organization at the brink of what was then yet another battle between state Sen. Loretta Weinberg (D-Teaneck) and BCDO Chairman Joseph Ferriero.   

On April 12, 2007, the governor arrived at BCDO headquarters, and like a benevolent chief summoned to witness the repairing of two nations, sat between Weinberg and Ferriero as the Bergen boss swore the war was over and promised not to run his ally, Englewood Mayor Michael Wildes, against the independent senator.

Two prominent New Jersey politicians who were convicted on federal corruption charges last year are still sitting on huge war chests.  Sharpe James, a former Newark Mayor and State Senator, has $1,161,398 in his old campaign account, while former Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Wayne Bryant has $597,021.  Both accounts have been largely untouched since their criminal convictions.

The New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission turned down Bryant's request to use campaign funds for his legal defense.  Former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio, whose corruption trial begins next month, had used some of his campaign funds for legal expenses prior to the ELEC ruling.  Coniglio has $16,358 in his account.

Jeffrey Chiesa last left his post as Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Jersey and has joined Wolff and Samson, a large North Jerey law firm.  Chiesa's resignation from the federal prosecutor's office was effective last Friday. 

Chiesa, 42, prosecuted several high profile federal corruption cases, including former Senate President John Lynch and Harry Parkin, the former Chief of Staff to Mercer County Executive Robert Prunetti.  He was also part of the team that won an indictment against ex-State Sen. Joseph Coniglio, whose trial begins on March 23.

Ridgefield Councilman Nicholas Lonzisero has filed a letter of intent with the Bergen County Republican Organization to run for assembly in Legislative District 38, according to the party's chairman, Bob Yudin.

So far, no other Republicans have come forward to run in the Democratic-leaning district, which some members of the party think maybe, just maybe could be put in play in light of the state's economic woes and the pending federal corruption trials of former State Sen. Joseph Coniglio (D-Paramus) and ex-Bergen County Democratic Chairman Joseph Ferriero.

"We're actively recruiting now," said Yudin.