Treffinger aides to cooperate with feds
5 are part of probe focusing on campaign contributions and phantom jobs, sources say
Sunday, April 21, 2002
BY ROBERT RUDOLPH, JONATHAN SCHUPPE AND JOHN P. MARTIN Star-Ledger Staff
Federal investigators seeking to build a corruption case against Essex County Executive and U.S. Senate candidate James Treffinger have enlisted at least five Treffinger aides and associates as cooperating witnesses, including some who have secretly tape-recorded conversations with him, according to sources close to the case.
The witnesses are said to include current and former campaign and county workers. They have become the cornerstone of a grand jury investigation into whether Treffinger traded lucrative government contracts for political contributions and rewarded campaign aides by giving them phantom jobs on the county payroll.
The sources would not identify the witnesses or say if Treffinger incriminates himself on the tapes.
The U.S. Attorney's Office has sent Treffinger a formal letter alerting him that he is the target of a grand jury investigation, according to three sources close to the case. The probe started more than a year ago, but authorities are looking for improprieties that could extend to Treffinger's first run for the Senate, in 2000.
In February, federal agents raided the home and office of Matt Kirnan, Treffinger's campaign treasurer. Kirnan was a longtime ally whom Treffinger fired and blamed for campaign finance violations related to his 2000 bid.
Investigators also are examining Treffinger's relationships with associates ranging from political foot soldiers to a sewer construction firm salesman to the caterers who feed county prison inmates and the barber who cuts his hair.
Treffinger is the latest high-ranking Jersey official to become the focus of a federal public corruption investigation. Since July 2000, federal prosecutors have indicted the mayors of Paterson, Irvington and Washington Township in Gloucester County. Newark's former mayor is awaiting a retrial on kickback charges, and the Hudson County executive resigned last fall after becoming entangled in a corruption probe.
But sources say investigators don't believe Treffinger used his office to line his own pockets. Rather, they say, prosecutors are trying to build a case that Treffinger's activities were driven by a politically charged ambition: to keep afloat his multimillion-dollar bid for higher office.
"These are politicians," said one friend of the candidate, by way of explanation. "They campaign, they have to raise money. ... Eventually, they do something stupid."
Treffinger and his attorney, Jack Arseneault, have declined to comment since Thursday, when FBI and IRS agents seized cartons of documents from his offices at the county Hall of Records in Newark. His West Orange campaign office remained dark yesterday morning, and Treffinger did not answer the door at his home in Verona.
Campaign manager Charlie Smith said Treffinger was "taking the weekend off" to spend time with his family. Smith said Treffinger stood by a statement he released last week in which he pledged he acted ethically and legally at all times as a candidate and officeholder.
Treffinger planned to resume campaigning tomorrow, despite a call from national Republican leaders that he abandon his bid, his manager said.
Treffinger, 51, spent two decades climbing New Jersey's political ladder. He promoted himself as a reformer when he won his first term as county executive in 1994, inheriting the county executive's office from a predecessor who left after convictions for bribery and money laundering.
Just weeks ago, Treffinger was considered the front-runner in the Republican Senate primary, with the winner to face Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli.
Republicans believed Torricelli was vulnerable after a three-year federal probe into his campaign finances. Torricelli was never charged.
Now embroiled in his own contribution scandal, Treffinger has asked state Republican leaders for patience. More than half of the state's 21 GOP county chairmen had endorsed him, and only two -- in Monmouth and Hudson -- have withdrawn their backing.
"The best we can do is wait a couple days and see what we hear from him," Union County Republican Chairman Ron Frigerio said yesterday. "I don't want him to go out precipitously and I don't want him to hurt the party."
Mike Mecca, the Passaic County GOP chairman, said he hoped to hear from Treffinger soon. "I've always found Jim to be a very good Republican," he said. "He's always been very fair with our organization, and I've found him nothing but a fair person."
Other GOP leaders were gloomier, saying they didn't want a candidate limping into the general election. "The guy is going to have to get out sooner or later," one official said. "He's a smart guy. He knows the ramifications of all this."
Treffinger showed his fund-raising prowess when he collected more than $1.4 million for his U.S. Senate run in 2000.
In February, however, Treffinger admitted his 2000 campaign improperly spent as much as $105,000 in donations, and agreed to refund the money. Treffinger then fired Kirnan, his treasurer and former campaign manager. Several attempts to reach Kirnan have been unsuccessful.
The U.S. Attorney's Office and FBI have declined to discuss the case.
Warrants connected to the Thursday raids said agents were seeking evidence of obstruction of justice, witness tampering, fraud, filing false statements and using threats of violence to interfere with commerce -- a racketeering statute. They hoped to find proof that Treffinger or people close to him falsified records to cover up links between vendors who contributed to his campaign and won million-dollar county contracts.
Among the names on the warrants was United Gunite Corp., an Irvington-based construction firm that has reaped millions in bridge and sewer contracts in communities statewide, including Essex.
Gunite executives have admitted showering gifts and money on public officials throughout the state in return for work, and one, Gerald Free, became a cooperating federal witness and wore a hidden wire while meeting with officials.
Investigators have said the company could ultimately lead them to dozens of corrupt public officials. Gunite is expected to play a prominent role in the upcoming corruption trial of Paterson Mayor Martin Barnes.
A source described the Gunite connection as a major part of the Treffinger case, but cautioned "it's the not only thing."
Agents also sought records relating to Gourmet Dining Services, a Montclair-based catering firm that two years ago won a $7 million contract to be the sole provider of meals at the county hospital and prison. The company also reportedly catered the wedding for Treffinger's daughter, as well as luncheons for the county executive.
Another contractor was Century 21 Construction, a developer involved in a nearly $70 million deal that Treffinger engineered to sell 600 acres of county land.
Investigators also are exploring whether Treffinger placed friends on the county payroll for jobs they never performed. Agents seized records on nine current and former county employees. Among them were three campaign aides: fund-raiser Irene Almeida, a $73,500-a-year special assistant to County Administrator Ronald Manzella; and two young Manzella assistants known in the Hall of Records as "the kids" -- Jessika Erickson, who earns $41,800 annually, and Patrick O'Connell, who makes $38,000.
None returned calls seeking comment in recent days, and county officials have refused to release personnel records.
Others named in last week's warrants are county workers, but whether they had any connection to the campaign was unclear. The list included:
- Cosmo Cerrigone, a $17,630-a-year hairdresser at the county's psychiatric hospital, and Treffinger's barber. Cerrigone owns Via Veneto Men's Salon in Cedar Grove.
- Michael DeMiro, a Verona lawyer and friend hired as a special assistant with a salary of $60,500.
- Roseland Mayor Louis DeBell, a former $15,000-a-year Treffinger liaison to county mayors.
- Joseph Fornarotto, a $11,515-a-year aide in the Essex County Division on Aging.
- Mario Criscito, who earns $20,000 a year as a county government physician.
- Former County Counsel Juan Fernandez.
- Anthony Pope, Cerrigone's attorney, said FBI agents had visited his client's barbershop on Thursday with subpoenas. But Pope would not say what the agents sought.
The others either declined comment or didn't return calls seeking comment.
Staff writers Dave Kinney, Farnaz Fassihi and Diane C. Walsh contributed to this report.
By Associated Press, 4/22/2002 03:35
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) Essex County Executive James Treffinger will announce Monday whether he still plans to seek the Republican nomination for U.S. Senate, just days after federal agents raided his government office.
Campaign manager Charlie Smith confirmed that Treffinger would make a statement about his intentions, but said he had no idea what decision Treffinger had reached. The executive director of the national Republican Senate campaign has called on Treffinger to end his candidacy.
FBI and Internal Revenue Service agents went to the county's Hall of Records on Thursday and seized dozens of documents and records related to Treffinger's campaign contributions, county contracts and employees.
Related searches also were carried out in at least three other locations, but authorities would not say what they were looking for or who might be the target. Treffinger has denied any wrongdoing.
Treffinger, who spent the weekend with family members and advisers, could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Jack Arseneault, declined comment on the matter.
The other Republicans in the race are state Sens. Diane Allen and John Matheussen and businessman Douglas Forrester.