1. New Jersey Democratic power broker state racketeering charges
2. New Jersey Democratic power broker pleads not guilty racketeering charges.
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TRENTON, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Democratic power broker, George E. Norcross III, charged with racketeering by the state attorney general, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to charges alleging that he threatened people whose properties he sought to take over and orchestrated tax incentive legislation to benefit organizations he controlled.
Norcross and four other co-defendants appeared in state Superior Court in Mercer County to enter their pleas in response to Attorney General Matt Platkin’s criminal charges unsealed last month. They all pleaded not guilty.
“My client emphatically states that he is not guilty,” Norcross’ attorney, Michael Critchley, told Judge Peter Warshaw.
A sixth co-defendant sent a letter to the judge stating that his lawyer is currently involved in another trial and hasn’t entered a plea yet, Warshaw said.
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The charges, brought by a Democratic attorney general against a longtime influential Democrat, have put the state’s dominant political party under scrutiny in an election year. This comes as the state’s senior U.S. Senator Bob Menendez is on trial in New York on unrelated federal bribery charges.
In a sign of how contentious the trial could be, the prosecutors and defense attorneys went back and forth on Tuesday over nearly 14,000 pages of documents that the state has yet to turn over to the defendants as required by the rules. The attorney general’s office sought to subject those documents to an order barring their distribution to third parties, like the news media, while the defense argued there shouldn’t be any such order.
The judge pushed the parties to agree to a temporary order barring the release of those records through September 9 while they sort out what should be kept from third parties and what could be passed along.
Among the items prosecutors have already mentioned in the indictment are recordings, including a profanity-laden call of Norcross in which he tells a developer he’ll face “enormous consequences.” The person asks if Norcross is threatening him, and Norcross responds, “Absolutely,” according to the indictment.
Defense attorneys said on Tuesday that they planned to challenge the apparent wiretaps that led to those recordings.
Norcross is charged with operating a criminal enterprise over more than a decade, starting in 2012, in which he threatened property owners whose land he sought to acquire, used Camden, New Jersey city government to acquire land, and tailored legislation for tax incentives that benefited companies he controlled. These allegations have been the subject of investigations for years, with Norcross denying any wrongdoing and praising the positive impact of his investments on the economically disadvantaged city of Camden, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.
He has claimed that the prosecution is politically motivated and without merit. He angrily denounced the charges the day they were unsealed and was present at the attorney general’s news conference.
Norcross, a wealthy executive of an insurance firm and a former Democratic National Committee member, has also financially contributed to state and national Democrats. He has since moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where he is a member of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
He has long been a controversial figure among progressive New Jersey Democrats, who have accused him of enriching himself at the expense of poorer residents.
A longtime kingmaker in southern New Jersey, Norcross often wielded influence through back channels. An old friend of the former Senate president and current gubernatorial candidate Steve Sweeney, Norcross played a key role in getting economic tax incentive legislation passed in 2013. His brothers are lobbyist and co-defendant Philip Norcross — who also pleaded not guilty on Tuesday — and U.S. Rep. Donald Norcross, a former state legislator who is not charged.
In addition to the Norcross brothers pleading not guilty, attorney William M. Tambussi; Camden Community Partnership chief executive and former Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd; and development company executive John J. O’Donnell have all pleaded not guilty.
Sidney R. Brown, chief executive of trucking and logistics company NFI, was not in court as his attorney is representing a co-defendant in the Menendez trial in New York, according to the judge.
Mike Catalini, The Associated Press
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New Jersey Democratic power broker pleads not guilty state racketeering charges
Democratic power broker pleads not guilty state racketeering charges.
