Three former elected officials charged with bribery will appear in court on Thursday, but the proceedings will be closed to the public because the names of some potential uncharged targets in a sting operation are expected to be mentioned, the New Jersey Globe has confirmed.
The three defendants – former Jersey City Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas, former Morris County Freeholder John Cesaro, and former Mount Arlington Councilman John Windish – were charged in late 2019 as part of a lilliputian sting operation connected to Matt O’Donnell.
Mercer County Assignment Judge Robert Lougy sealed certain documents related to Thomas last year after the name of the state’s intended target was included in a court filing. That was the second time the attorney general’s office was forced to get a court order to seal records after the intended targets the state sought to include in the sting operation were in court filings.
Because the three defendants are connected and can’t be untangled– apparently through O’Donnell, a former tax appeal attorney and the state’s cooperating witness – Superior Court Judge Peter Tober closed tomorrow’s hearing.
Last month, Thomas pled guilty in federal court to charges that he embezzled about $45,000 from the Jersey City Employment and Training Program when he was executive director and stole money from his campaign fund.
The attorney general’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability alleges that Thomas took a $35,000 cash bribe from O’Donnell.
Cesaro and Windish refused plea offers from prosecutors in 2021 that included five years in prison and a requirement that each serve two years without the possibility of parole.
O’Donnell pleaded guilty in late 2021 to two counts connected to using straw donors to obtain public contracts for his law firm, O’Donnell McCord, that could require him to serve three years in 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.
Cesaro, the Republican former freeholder, is accused of soliciting campaign contributions from the cooperating witness between April and May 2018 while seeking re-election to the Morris County Board of Freeholders.
He is accused of soliciting money for his 2021 bid for Mayor of Parsippany in exchange for tax work from Morris County and an appointment as Parsippany tax counsel if he were to be elected.
The state alleges that Cesaro took an envelope containing $10,000 in cash and $2,350 in checks from the cooperating witness but later returned the money and asked that it be replaced with checks.
Windish is accused of taking a $7,000 cash bribe he solicited from O’Donnell for his unsuccessful 2018 re-election campaign.