JERSEY CITY – Federal corruption charges have been dropped against Joseph Castagna, a former health officer with the Jersey City Dept. of Health and Human Services. Castagna had been facing extortion charges stemming from allegations that he took a $5,000 bribe from Solomon Dwek, the notorious government witness who posed as a real estate developer as part of a Federal Bureau of Investigation sting operation. According to the original charges against him, Castagna allegedly passed the $5,000 cash bribe on to Michael Manzo, a former Jersey City Council candidate.
Castagna was among 46 people who were arrested in the summer of 2009 as part of Operation Bid Rig. However, a federal judge on Monday dropped all charges against him, agreeing with Castagna’s defense that he was a city worker – and not a public official – when the alleged bribe took place. Since he had been charged under a law that only pertains to public and elected leaders, the chargers were dismissed.
Castagna retired from the city’s Dept. of Health and Human Services, where he worked as a health inspector, in 2009.