JERSEY CITY AND BEYOND — Former Jersey City deputy mayor Leona Beldini was supposed to start a three-year sentence in a Texas federal prison on corruption charges this month. Instead, according to a Associated Press report, Beldini will remain free on $100,000 bail while she appeals her conviction, as ruled by U.S. District Judge Jose Linares last Friday.
Beldini was convicted in February on bribery charges pertaining to her accepting $20,000 in illegal campaign contributions from government informant Solomon Dwek for Mayor Jerramiah Healy’s 2009 reelection campaign.
Beldini was one of 44 people arrested in July 2009 in a federal corruption and money laundering sting that brought down public officials and religious leaders across New Jersey. – RK