Two South Jersey officials face criminal charges related to Mercer County Executive race

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A political feud between South Jersey Democrats and Mercer County Commissioner John Cimino over last year’s race for county executive has led to the indictment of two commissioners of the South Jersey Transportation Authority for allegedly colluding to block payments to the politically active engineering firm Cimino works in retaliation.

Christopher Milam, the Washington Township Democratic municipal chairman, and Bryan Bush, a union leader from Sewell, are charged with official misconduct that could land them a mandatory five years in state prison.  They are also accused of lying to a grand jury.

According to a statement from the attorney general’s office, votes cast by Milam and Bush prevented the bill from being paid.

Milam allegedly sent a test message to Bush on February 8 saying, “They cut South Jersey in Mercer County so now we vote no.”

“As this investigation continues, today we are sending a clear message: No matter how connected or powerful you are, if there is evidence suggesting that you have used your position and taxpayer dollars for political retribution or gain, we will hold you accountable,” said Attorney General Matt Platkin. “And if you lie to a grand jury, as alleged here, to cover up your conduct, you will answer for that, too. For people to have trust in government, they cannot feel that the well-off and well-connected play by a different set of rules than everyone else. The law cannot treat people differently. My office will continue to hold powerful people and powerful institutions accountable.”

The investigation is ongoing.

The charges are connected to threats made to Cimino to stay out of the primary between County Executive Brian Hughes and his opponent, Assemblyman Dan Benson, or have the company he works for, T&M Associates, lose business.

Prosecutors allege that Milam and Busch conspired to prevent the authority from holding back payment to T&M for work it had already done, and cast votes during three meetings of the authority for targeting Cimino’s firm for political reasons.

There have been reports that George E. Norcross met with Cimino and sought to convince him to stay neutral in the county executive primary.  Norcross is not mentioned in the attorney general’s release.

“Milam agreed to aid another person or persons in the planning or commission of official misconduct, and Christopher Milam’s purpose was to promote or facilitate the commission of the crime of official misconduct,” a state police detective said in the criminal complaint.

Prosecutors maintain that Milam and Bush lied to a grand jury convened to probe the allegations by falsely claiming that issues with T&M, including billing errors and concern with the project, was the reason for their votes.

“The evidence revealed that these defendants misused the power they held as members of the SJTA Board to exact revenge on this particular firm and one of its staff members,” said Drew Skinner, the director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. “Their subsequent attempts to offer seemingly legitimate, but allegedly fictional, reasons for voting against the payments represents a further violation of the public trust.”

Skinner said that “abusing public office in order to get political payback — and trying to cover it up — will not be tolerated.”

“Anyone who abuses the power entrusted to them by the public for political retaliation should know they will face serious consequences,” he said A political feud between South Jersey Democrats and Mercer County Commissioner John Cimino over last year’s race for county executive has led to the indictment of two commissioners of the South Jersey Transportation Authority for allegedly colluding to block payments to the politically active engineering firm Cimino works in retaliation.