Joe Ferriero - THE RIDGEWOOD BLOG.

Posted on October 23, 2015 October 23, 2015

Ethical bar drops lower in the 38th Legislative District

OCTOBER 23, 2015 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2015, 1:21 AM
BY ALFRED P. DOBLIN
THE RECORD

THERE MUST be something in the soil, some remnant of the days of celery farms that affects politics in the 38th Legislative District, making state Assembly races toxic. In 2009, Democrats running for the Assembly in the 38th went ugly. This year, the Assembly race is ugly in so many ways it may redefine ugly.

Republican challengers Mark DiPisa and Anthony Cappola were hoping to unseat Democratic incumbents Tim Eustace and Joseph Lagana . The 38th is considered one of only a few competitive districts in New Jersey where neither Republicans nor Democrats have a gerrymandered advantage.

Things started going south when it became common knowledge that Cappola had written a book called “Outrageous” a decade ago. Cappola calls the book raunchy. That is not a fair description. Even calling it a book is a stretch. “Outrageous” is a badly spelled rant against almost every form of humanity.

Cappola says that he regrets the book and that it is not who he is today. He also claims his core campaign team knew all about the book before he became an official candidate. Meeting with The Record’s editorial board Tuesday, Cappola said his then-running mate knew about the book and its general content. He also said Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, the ranking Republican in the Assembly, knew about it as well. According to Cappola, Bergen County Republican Organization Chairman Bob Yudin was not informed at all.

Once the book and its contents became public knowledge, there was an outcry for Cappola to drop out of the race. Cappola says he called DiPisa, who almost hung up on him in disgust. DiPisa has a different recollection of events. He says that he never knew about the book and that he called Cappola and said either Cappola drops out of the race or he would.

To make this long story longer, there was a legal effort to replace Cappola on the ballot. Bramnick determined the costs of reprinting and resending already mailed ballots could be as high as $200,000 and there was no money for such an effort in one legislative district.

https://www.northjersey.com/opinion/ethical-bar-drops-lower-in-the-38th-district-1.1439556

Posted on March 21, 2015 March 21, 2015

Ferriero racketeering trial: Wood-Ridge Mayor Paul Sarlo testifies

Paul Sarlo (@PaulASarlo) | Twitter

Ferriero racketeering trial: Wood-Ridge Mayor Paul Sarlo testifies

March 20, 2015, 12:48 PM Last updated: Friday, March 20, 2015, 9:39 PM
By JOHN BRENNAN and and JOHN C. ENSSLIN
Staff Writers |
The Record

The federal racketeering trial of former Bergen County Democratic leader Joseph A. Ferriero took a dramatic turn Friday when state Sen. Paul Sarlo, one of the most powerful Democratic lawmakers in North Jersey, testified that Ferriero “pushed hard” to persuade Wood-Ridge officials to hire a software company without disclosing that he stood to profit from the deal.

Sarlo, who is also the mayor of Wood-Ridge, said the town’s decision in 2007 not to hire the company, called C3, led to a confrontation during a political golf outing the next year.

“I don’t think they were happy with my response — it got tense,” Sarlo said of Ferriero and John Carrino, the owner of C3, a Nutley-based firm that helped towns with municipal websites and reverse 911 systems.

Once voices were raised, Sarlo said, his chief of staff, Chris Eilert, “intervened to make sure it didn’t go any further” by guiding Sarlo away from the other two men.

Sarlo’s testimony came in U.S. District Court in Newark, where Ferriero, 57, of Hackensack, is on trial on charges of using his position as party chairman in a series of extortion, bribery and kickback schemes. He has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing and has accused the prosecutors of unfairly targeting him.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/ferriero-racketeering-trial-wood-ridge-mayor-paul-sarlo-testifies-1.1292955

Posted on February 21, 2015 February 21, 2015

EX Democrat Boss Ferriero’s corruption trial will go ahead; judge sees no conflict for U.S. attorney in case

EX Democrat Boss Ferriero’s corruption trial will go ahead; judge sees no conflict for U.S. attorney in case

FEBRUARY 20, 2015, 2:43 PM LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 2015, 11:04 PM
THE RECORD

A federal judge on Friday rejected claims that U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman has a conflict of interest that would deny former Bergen County Democratic leader Joseph Ferriero a fair trial on racketeering charges.

In a decision delivered just days before jury selection, U.S. District Judge Esther Salas refused Ferriero’s request that she either dismiss the racketeering indictment or remove Fishman and his office from the case.

The conflict of interest claim was based on the fact that Fishman, before he became U.S. attorney in 2009, represented James Dausch, a real estate executive who is expected to testify as a prosecution witness at Ferriero’s trial.

There is “no evidence beyond conjecture that Mr. Fishman received any information from Mr. Dausch during the course of representation that would prejudice Ferriero in this case,” Salas said in her ruling.

“In fact, there is no evidence that Ferriero was ever mentioned in the presence of Mr. Fishman during the course of representation, or that Mr. Fishman knew of any relationship between Ferriero and Mr. Dausch,” Salas said. “Ferriero has not been deprived of his due process right to a full and fair trial.”

Ferriero, 57, of Hackensack, was indicted in 2013 on charges that he ran the Bergen County Democratic Organization through a pattern of racketeering that included paying kickbacks to a public official, soliciting and accepting bribes as a party official, and extorting a developer. He is also charged with conspiring to promote bribery and to distribute bribe proceeds, and committing mail and wire fraud.

Ferriero’s lawyers had argued that Fishman had an “irreconcilable conflict” because he once represented EnCap Golf Holdings, a real estate developer that proposed to transform Meadowlands landfills into residential golf communities, and Dausch, a former EnCap executive. Prior to joining EnCap, Dausch was an executive of the Virginia-based Mills Corp., which was seeking to develop a proposed retail and entertainment complex on land owned by the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

https://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-refuses-dismissal-of-ferriero-s-racketeering-indictment-1.1275417

Posted on February 8, 2015 February 7, 2015

New Allegations Against Former Bergen Democrat Boss Allege ‘Continuing Criminal Activity’

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’.

https://www.bergendispatch.com/default.aspx?p=articles&news=35761745&title=New-Allegations-Against-Former-Bergen-Democrat-Boss-Allege-Continuing-Criminal-Activity-

Posted on October 17, 2014 January 20, 2019

Judge refuses to dismiss case against ex-Bergen County Democrat chief Ferriero

Judge refuses to dismiss case against ex-Bergen County Dems chief Ferriero
October 16, 2014, 6:17 PM Last updated: Friday, October 17, 2014, 7:00 AM
By KAREN SUDOL

A federal judge on Thursday refused to throw out a case against a former chairman of the Bergen County Democratic Organization who is charged with profiting from his position through a series of bribery, kickback and extortion schemes.

U.S. District Judge Esther Salas denied a defense request for the dismissal of the 2013 indictment against Joseph A. Ferriero.

Federal prosecutors have charged Ferriero, 57, with extorting millions from a Meadowlands complex developer in exchange for his support and with persuading Bergen towns to hire a software developer who was paying Ferriero. He also secured a Bergenfield borough attorney job for a friend, Dennis Oury, who then persuaded the town to hire grant-writing firm that both he and Ferriero had ownership interests in, according to the indictment.

His trial, which was supposed to begin in November, has been postponed until February because of scheduling issues among the attorneys.

– See more at: https://www.northjersey.com/news/judge-refuses-to-dismiss-case-against-ex-bergen-county-dems-chief-ferriero-1.1111206#sthash.c7MEFEgO.dpuf