Corruption indictment against New Jersey power broker George Norcross is tossed
A judge has dismissed indictments against New Jersey Democratic power broker George Norcross and his five co-defendants, potentially ending a case that rocked New Jersey politics and boosted the profile of Attorney General Matt Platkin.
Judge Peter Warshaw in a Wednesday ruling tossed the racketeering indictments against Norcross; his brother Phil; attorney Bill Tambussi; former Camden Mayor Dana Redd; John O'Donnell, former CEO of the Michaels Organization rental company; and Sidney Brown, CEO of the logistics company NFI.
The indictments alleged they enriched themselves through real estate deals on the Camden waterfront, across from Philadelphia, funded in large part by state tax incentives.
'The indictment must be dismissed because its factual allegations do not constitute extortion or criminal coercion as a matter of law,' Warshaw wrote in a 100-page decision.
Platkin in a statement said he will appeal.
'After years in which the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently cut back on federal public corruption law, and at a time in which the federal government is refusing to tackle corruption, it has never been more important for state officials to take corruption head on,' Platkin said in a statement. 'But I have never promised that these cases would be easy, because too many have come to view corruption as simply the way the powerful do business in New Jersey.'
Norcross, who has never held elective office, has had huge sway in South Jersey and state politics since the early 1990s and retained his power and prestige despite the indictment. He was a member of the Democratic National Committee and counted figures from across the political spectrum, from Democrat Nancy Pelosi to Republican Chris Christie, as his friends.
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