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PAID BY: KEVIN BROWN
(EFO) PO BOX 308, LONG BRANCH, NJ 07740 - 732.222.6224
CHARGE:
He'd help contractor get Long Branch work
TO QUIT: His lawyer says councilman will step down
Zambrano admits $1,000 bribe
Posted ON the
Asbury Park Press
on 07/21/06
BY CAROL GORGA WILLIAMS
Discuss this case in our forum.
NEWARK — Long Branch City Councilman John R. "Fazz" Zambrano
pleaded guilty Thursday to accepting a $1,000 bribe from an FBI
informant, and his lawyer said later Zambrano will resign from
office.
Zambrano, 44, entered the
guilty plea before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini,
saying in a clear voice that on Nov. 19, 2003, at a party in
Atlantic City, he accepted $1,000 through an intermediary to use
his influence to secure demolition contracts from the city.
Zambrano's brother, Paul, a former mayor of neighboring West
Long Branch, pleaded guilty in August 2005 to accepting $15,000
in cash bribes from an FBI informant posing as a demolition
contractor, as well as an undercover FBI agent.
Paul Zambrano was the first of 11 Monmouth County or municipal
officials arrested Feb. 22, 2005, to plead guilty to charges of
extorting bribes or money laundering. The arrests were part of
Operation Bid Rig, the FBI probe into corruption among officials
in Monmouth County that eventually led to charges against 16
public officials and businessmen.
When Paul Zambrano
pleaded guilty, he admitted that he accepted "a second envelope
containing $1,000 in cash . . . which defendant Paul Zambrano
agreed to deliver to another public official in exchange for
that official's assistance in obtaining work . . . in another
Monmouth County municipality."
It seems likely from the document and from the references in
court that this public official was John Zambrano.
Reactions in city
"I feel very bad for the
family," said Alfred "Alfie" Lenkiewicz, who ran against Long
Branch Mayor Adam Schneider in the May election. "I worry about
our city's future, what's going to happen with the open council
seat. Our city doesn't need the black eye. There was speculation
the whole campaign this was going to happen. . . . To be honest,
no one wanted to say something bad. Everyone likes the Zambranos.
I just hope it doesn't go further."
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark J. McCarren and Hope Olds said
they knew from the date of that party in November 2003 that John
Zambrano had accepted the bribe because they were working with a
cooperating witness.
They declined to say
whether the investigation is focusing on other officials in Long
Branch.
The plea agreement is dated May 29, a month before John Zambrano
took the oath of office to begin his 13th year as a councilman
after winning re-election May 9. But McCarren and Olds did not
explain why the matter wasn't brought into court until Thursday,
saying only that May 29 is when the plea offer was made, not
when it was accepted.
Zambrano, who was
accompanied to court by his wife, Susan, declined to comment
afterward. He is free after posting $25,000 bail pending his
sentencing on Oct. 26.
He faces a 20-year prison term but it is likely he will receive
a prison term of 18 to 24 months, Olds said. Martini has the
final say. Zambrano also faces a $250,000 fine.
Long Branch Business Administrator Howard H. Woolley Jr. joined
the ranks of officials who expressed shock at Zambrano's guilty
plea.
"I'm just shocked and
terribly saddened by this," said Woolley, who said he has known
Zambrano for more than 30 years. "It's a tragedy on so many
levels."
Woolley said he had no warning that Zambrano's plea was coming
and said the mood in city hall on Thursday was dark.
"We all were just caught totally by surprise," Woolley said. "I
think everybody here is fairly numb. Not fairly, totally numb."
Mayor "shocked"
Schneider said Thursday
that he was "shocked" that Zambrano, a man he described as a
friend, pleaded guilty.
"I'm very upset,"
Schneider said. "He's a great person, a friend, and I'm just
devastated by this."
Schneider said he spoke with Zambrano on Monday, but the
councilman did not indicate that he was about to appear in
court. Schneider said he agreed with Zambrano's decision to
resign his council post.
"He has to, there's no question," Schneider said.
Schneider said it was too
early to comment on replacing Zambrano. The City Council has a
regularly scheduled meeting Tuesday, and it is possible the
issue could come up then.
In many of these cases involving demolition contracts, the
prosecution is relying on Robert "Duke" Steffer, a cooperating
witness with the FBI who posed as a corrupt contractor eager to
grease the palms of politicians willing to take bribes in
exchange for lucrative government contracts.
Zambrano admitted that he
first met the cooperating witness in October 2003, and the
witness was interested in securing demolition contracts in Long
Branch.
Zambrano then admitted accepting the $1,000 bribe.
"Did you know at all times that what you were doing was against
the law?" Olds asked?
"Yes," Zambrano replied. "I plead guilty."
Discuss this case in APP forum.
Staff writer Keith Brown
contributed to this story.
Long Branch re-elects Schneider
team
LONG BRANCH — The city's "silent majority" weighed in Tuesday on
the question of redevelopment and Long Branch's controversial
practice of eminent domain by re-electing the mayor and his
incumbent City Council slate.
With 2,437 votes, Mayor Adam Schneider, a 51-year-old lawyer,
captured a fifth four-year term. Trailing were his two
challengers — Alfred "Alfie" Lenkiewicz with 1,920 votes and the
Rev. Kevin Brown with 189.
About 31 percent — 4,279 — of the city's 13,898 registered
voters turned out.
"As of 8 o'clock tonight, the silent majority in this city is no
longer silent," said Councilman Anthony Giordano III, who
received 2,264 votes. "We knew this would be our toughest
election."
The other incumbent top vote-getters for four-year council terms
are David G. Brown, with 2,258 votes; Mary Jane Celli, 2,356;
Michael DeStefano, 2,254; and John "Fazz" Zambrano, 2,179. Like
Schneider, DeStefano also was seeking his fifth term. The
remaining council candidates were seeking fourth terms.
Among Lenkiewicz's "New Wave" team of candidates, Ralph A.
DeFillipo Sr. received 1,892 votes; Stephen Molnar, 1,789;
Leonard Goldschein, 1,678; John T. Ferraro, 1,851; and Carlos
Nieves, 1,649. All were political neophytes except for Nieves,
who ran for council in 1998.
Three independent council candidates rounded out the results:
Donald Riley with 618 votes, Harold Cooper, 383, and Thomas
Anzalone, 409.
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Speaking
out against eminent domain ordinance in Long Branch Council
