Man pleads guilty after attempting bribes of sewerage commissioners

Updated: Jan. 16, 12:49 p.m.

A Passaic Valley Sewerage Commission pleaded guilty on Monday to trying to bribe a PVSC Commissioner in an effort to advance his career. 

Omid Bayati, of Hillsdale, New Jersey, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit official misconduct in a deal that will likely send him to prison for five years. Prosecutors say Bayati offered $1,200 in exchange for preferential treatment, including being placed in a higher pay range than he qualified for.

The New Jersey Globe previously reported that Bayati also attempted to bribe Passaic Mayor Hector Lora, another PVSC commissioner who immediately reported the incident to law enforcement.

“Mr. Bayati’s brazen attempt to influence his supervisor using money has earned him a felony conviction instead,” Attorney General Matt Platkin said in a release. “Trying to illegally influence a government official in New Jersey doesn’t pay.”

The accusations were first filed in a 2021 complaint. Bayati pleaded guilty to attempting to bribe a different commissioner.

“My immediate response was to take it to the appropriate authorities. The political world we operate in can often be treacherous and full of dangerous traps and gray areas,” Lora said at the time. “Ethical boards and officers along with law enforcement agencies are set up to hold us accountable but also for us to turn to whenever there may be doubts regarding any interactions or blatant attempts to violate the law.”

Bayati is a onetime aide to former Assembly Minority Leader Paul DiGaetano.

“Bayati attempted to provide this illicit payment first by check, drawn from an account opened under the name ‘PVSC PAC,’ an organization unaffiliated with the PVSC,” the release reads. “That check was left at a restaurant in Fair Lawn, New Jersey, for the intended recipient to pick up. Written on the check’s memo line was one word: ‘donation.’”

Bayati’s sentencing is scheduled for March 21, 2025, according to the release.

A prior version of this article incorrectly detailed the circumstances of Bayati’s guilty plea. While Bayati was previously accused of attempting to bribe Passaic Mayor Hector Lora, he pleaded guilty to bribing a different PVSC commissioner. We regret this error.