New Allegations Against Former Bergen Democrat Boss Allege ‘Continuing Criminal Activity’
By Paul Nichols
Friday, Feb 06, 2015
Former Bergen County Democrat Boss Joe Ferriero was in court on Wednesday to fend off new allegations in his Federal corruption trial. The former chairman of the Bergen County Democrats stands accused of extorting $1.7 million from the previous developer of the Meadowlands retail/entertainment project formerly known as Xanadu.
In late December, the United States Attorney filed a motion to allow the Government to introduce evidence of the defendant’s solicitation and acceptance of payments from a Teaneck Law Firm and its clients in matters other than the Retail & Entertainment Project, (a.k.a. Xanadu).
According to the U.S. Attorney, the evidence ‘establishes the continuous nature of the defendant’s racketeering activities and the threat of continuing criminal activity given the financial rewards that the defendant was reaping from those financial arrangements’.
According to the documents filed in the case the U.S. Attorney wants to introduce evidence of four new schemes at trial. The U.S. Attorney calls those schemes ‘The Hackensack Project’, ‘The Landfill Project’, ‘The Port Company Matter’ and ‘The Medical Practitioner Matter’.