Posted on 04/07/2008 5:49:46 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
NEWARK, N.J. - Newark Mayor Sharpe James betrayed his city by using his influence to help his one-time mistress rake in more than half a million dollars through shady real-estate deals, a prosecutor said in closing arguments Monday.
James is accused of arranging for the sale of nine city-owned properties at a discounted rate of $46,000 to Tamika Riley from 2001 to 2005. Riley quickly sold them for $665,000 without ever starting required rehabilitation work on most of them, prosecutors said.
The 41 witnesses heard during the five-week trial did not include James, 72, or Riley, 39, a publicist who once ran a clothing boutique near City Hall.
"We are here because Sharpe James betrayed the people of Newark," Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith A. Germano told jurors at federal court in Newark, just a block from City Hall, where James led the state's largest city for 20 years.
The defense for James, whose summations are scheduled for Tuesday, has stressed that the Newark City Council, not the mayor, had final approval over the sales. His defense presented only two witnesses, both members of the council, who said James never tried to influence their decisions.
Germano maintained that testimony from prosecution witnesses proved that James took a close interest in Riley's efforts to acquire city land despite public assertions that the mayor had no role in the process.
"He not only put her in the system, but when it suited him, he cut her off," Germano said, reminding the jury that other would-be developers with better qualifications and finances were thwarted.
"It's fraud, it's favoritism, it's fraud," Germano said.
Riley's defense attempted to shift blame to her real estate lawyers, and also maintained she paid the standard rate for distressed properties. Germano ridiculed that claim on Monday, pointing to evidence that Riley was involved in details of the transactions.
"Tamika Riley was calling the shots," Germano said.
James was in office from 1986 to 2006, promoting a city struggling with crime, unemployment and decay. He championed a number of large public projects, including the Prudential Center, a pro hockey arena that opened in October.
He has said little since his indictment in July. James faces five charges, including fraud and conspiracy. Riley faces those charges and eight others, including evading taxes and cheating to obtain subsidized housing assistance for herself.
James could face seven to eight years in prison if he is convicted on all counts. He could also be stripped of pensions that provide a six-figure annual income.
James, who served as a Democratic state senator from 1999 to January 2008, is one of the most powerful figures snared in a series of corruption cases brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office, but is one of the few who has pleaded not guilty.
In the past several years, federal prosecutors garnered more than 100 public corruption convictions statewide of elected and appointed officials and people doing business with them, such as contractors.
A verdict in his favor would not end James' legal issues. He still faces a federal trial on charges he used city-issued credit cards to pay for $58,000 worth of personal expenses while he was mayor, including trips with several women other than his wife, to Martha's Vineyard, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro.
Does he make Huey Long, look like a boy scout?/Just Asking - seoul62.......
Another crooked Democrat Mayor or Governor down, so many more to go!
He's not down yet. Jury of one's peers, and all that.
This is the fifth consecutive Newark mayor to have legal problems. Kenneth Gibson (a fellow NCE alumnus) before him plead guilty to tax fraud, Hugh Addonizio before him sent to prison for taking kickbacks, two others before.
Damn! Tamika done flipped that house!
Is it wrong to root for someone to get prison raped?
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