A contrite-looking Peter Perez appeared in U.S. Federal Court in Newark last Friday to receive his sentence for his involvement with corrupt activities involving official North Bergen township business.
“At this time, I’d like to take full responsibility for my actions,” Perez said in front of U.S. District Judge Joseph Greenaway last week. “I know I caused a lot of grief in my township and my family, my children, my wife, my parents and all my friends. And I’m very sorry.”
The 43-year-old Perez, the former commissioner in charge of Parks and Recreation for seven years, was sentenced by Greenaway to serve six months in a federal prison for accepting kickbacks and bribes from a contractor who had several business contracts with the township.
Perez had previously pleaded guilty to the charges in July of 2002, after it was learned by federal investigators that he had been implicated in the ongoing FBI probe surrounding corruption in North Bergen government.
But at the time of his guilty plea, Perez agreed to cooperate with the authorities, and that cooperation kept Perez from receiving a stiffer sentence.
Because of his cooperation, Perez received six months prison time, as opposed to the expected 18 month-to-two year sentence he could have received.
Greenaway said that he took Perez’ cooperation with FBI agents into consideration when imposing the sentence. However, because Perez betrayed the public trust, Greenaway could not keep Perez from serving some time in prison.
Greenaway also ordered Perez to pay the township $26,000 in restitution for the work he received and fined Perez $5,000.
Perez served as the commissioner of Parks and Recreation from July, 1995 through his resignation after the guilty plea was revealed in July of 2002.
Among the six officials who have either been indicted or convicted for their participation in corruption as part of the FBI’s three-year probe into North Bergen government, he is the only elected official.
According to court documents, Perez pleaded guilty to accepting free work at his home, valued at $22,700, as well as cash payments totaling $3,300. The improvements to his home included a bathroom renovation, estimated at $7,000, in 1995, and $15,700 worth of work done to his kitchen, bedrooms, a second-floor bathroom and a hallway in 1997.
A cooperator in the investigation was Leonard Farinola, a heating and air conditioning contractor who had several working relationships with the township and with the North Bergen Municipal Utilities Authority. The illegal gifts were provided from funds that Farinola received under township contracts totaling $2.7 million over seven years.
Farinola was the first to turn into a government informant after he was nabbed by FBI agents. To save himself from a long prison term, Farinola recorded conversations he had with township officials. Farinalo pleaded guilty to his involvement in April of 2003 and is awaiting sentencing.
Among those who were charged and pleaded guilty as part of Farinola’s information were former township administrator Joseph Auriemma, and Joseph Hernandez, a former purchasing agent for the MUA. Also charged were Vincent Zappulla, a former aide to North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, and Domenic Grano, another contractor who allegedly gave bribes to MUA officials.
Ongoing
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Clark, who has headed the North Bergen probe since its outset, did not reveal the extent of Perez’ cooperation, simply stating once again that the “investigation is still ongoing.” But he told Judge Greenaway that Perez had helped seal the fate of others involved in the probe.
“The cooperation was significant,” Clark told Greenaway. “Obviously, systematic corruption is a significant and ongoing problem, and Mr. Perez was a piece of that. He took thousands of dollars and enriched himself at the expense of taxpayers.”
Perez’ attorney, Andrew Jacobs, said that prior to the guilty plea, Perez “was a decent, well-liked man who learned from his mistake and will never repeat it.”
“My client has cooperated in every way possible and hopes to turn his life around,” Jacobs said.
Pumps gas
Since he resigned from the Board of Commissioners, as well as his position as an assistant business administrator for the Hudson County Schools of Technology, where he earned a $92,400 salary, Perez has been working two jobs, pumping gas and selling clothes to help support his family, according to Jacobs. Ironically, Perez was hand-picked by Sacco in 1995 to the Board of Commissioners to replace Michael DiGiovanni, who was indicted on state charges for also accepting illegal gifts from a contractor. DiGiovanni resigned after he struck a deal where he received three years probation.
The U.S. Attorney’s office would not reveal where Perez would be assigned, but it’s more than likely going to be the federal prison in Allenwood, Pa., where several other local elected officials, like former Jersey City Mayor Gerald McCann, served their sentences after convictions. Perez is expected to be moved to the prison within the next month.
Mayor Nicholas Sacco refused to comment on Perez’ jail sentence, although he previously stated that of all the illegal activity going on in the township, Perez’ involvement was the one that hurt him the most personally. Perez was considered to be a rising star politically before the guilty plea.
“This administration does not tolerate any form of corruption,” said Craig Schmalz, a township spokesman. “The township has cooperated fully with the government’s investigation right from the start. It’s clear Peter Perez’ mistakes have cost him his career.”