Matt O’Donnell didn’t comply with subpoena, faces contempt charges, judges said

Matthew O’Donnell, the state’s cooperating witness in an itsy-bitsy corruption sting operation, has violated a subpoena ordering him to turn over billing records for his now-defunct Morristown law firm, O’Donnell McCord.

Superior Court Judge Tober told O’Donnell and two of his attorneys, Eric Kanefsky and Thomas Calcagni, to appear in court within the next three weeks to determine whether they will face contempt charges.

O’Donnell was “deemed to have willfully failed to comply with the validly issued subpoena and the Order of the court,” Tober’s order stated.

Tober had previously rejected a bid by Deputy Attorney General Eric Cohen to quash the subpoena.

In a July court hearing, Thomas’ attorney questioned the attorney general’s conceptual interception procedures – the authorization of O’Donnell to wear a wire – since there was no evidence that he was under investigation before the Jersey City Board of Education filed a lawsuit against the state.  Jeffrey Manis, the deputy bureau chief for the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability at the time, authorized the wire

The names of potential targets in the state’s corruption sting operation involving Matt O’Donnell remain sealed from the public, but Tober ordered the attorney general’s office to release details related to the probe to defense attorneys.

Tober had also ordered the state to provide Thomas’ legal team, Jeffrey Garrigan and Matt Troiano, with discovery related to the alleged crimes committed by O’Donnell, a former tax appeals attorney representing public entities and the state’s cooperating witness against Thomas, former Morris County Freeholder John Cesaro, former Mount Arlington Councilman John Windish, and former Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell (D-Bayonne).

O’Donnell pled guilty in October 2021 to two counts connected to his use of straw donors to obtain public contracts for his law firm, O’Donnell McCord, that could require him to serve three years in state prison.  He admitted to illegal activities regarding his work as the Mount Arlington borough attorney and as a tax appeal attorney for Morristown, Bloomfield, and Morris County.

In a revised plea agreement, O’Donnell admitted guilt to one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit misconduct by a corporate official and one count of third-degree conspiracy to commit tampering with public records and information.  While the statutory maximum sentence is 15 years, the attorney general’s office has agreed to a deal that requires O’Donnell to serve two three-year prison sentences concurrently.

O’Donnell has agreed to be debarred and to a ten-year ban on any business relationship with the state.  He’ll need to pay full restitution to victims and forfeit $600,000 that came from his use of straw donors and illegal cash contributions.  O’Donnell has also agreed to pay a $250,000 public corruption profiteering penalty and a lifetime ban on public employment.

The new plea agreement, dated September 12, 2021, replaced the one he signed in June 2018.

Under that agreement, the state permitted O’Donnell to become the recipient of a considerable amount of public funds even after he acknowledged an unspecified criminal act.