Pleas to obstruction, fraud end need for trial (behind closed doors

Former Essex County Executive James Treffinger pleaded guilty yesterday to federal corruption charges, ending 13 months that transformed him from a leading U.S. Senate candidate into another New Jersey politician convicted of graft.

Treffinger, 53, admitted obstructing an FBI probe into his dealings with United Gunite Corp., a sewer-repair firm that won hundreds of thousands of dollars in no-bid county contracts. The once rising Republican star said he coached aides to lie to federal investigators and create phony documents to conceal $10,000 worth of campaign contributions from the company.

Treffinger, a lawyer from Verona, rode a promise of integrity to an upset victory in 1994 for executive, the chief official in the state's most populous county. But his plea makes him the second consecutive Essex County executive convicted of corruption, and the latest of more than two dozen public officials statewide indicted or convicted of similar charges in the past 18 months. As Treffinger arrived in court, former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski was testifying as a government witness in another federal courtroom across the street. Janiszewski, a Democrat power broker, pleaded guilty last fall to bribery after being snared in an FBI sting. The case against Treffinger started three years ago, after federal agents wiretapped the phones of Jerry Free, a United Gunite salesman who showered cash bribes, travel and gifts on public officials to win more than $50 million in repair work statewide.

Pubbie pleads guilty. That's refreshing. Guess he knows what the meaning of "is" is.

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