HUDSON COUNTY — The infamous FBI informant behind a government sting that took down dozens of New Jersey politicians is now citing mental disorders as a reason to get leniency in his own sentencing.
Solomon Dwek faces 9 to 11 years in prison for money laundering and bank fraud counts of his own (which total over $50M) for acts committed before 2007. After the FBI arrested him for those acts, the FBI used him from 2007 to 2009 to meet with local politicians and candidates to offer them bribes. He wore a wire and helped the FBI nab approximately 40 people, including local politicians, Orthodox rabbis, and a black market organ donor. The sting became known as Operation Bid Rig.
Now, Dwek is set to be sentenced on Oct 18 for his own 2006 fraud charges. His attorney Charles Uliano made a claim Friday in a 94-page filing that Dwek had a history of mental disorders.
According to NJ.com, a clinical psychologist retained by Dwek’s attorneys, Jerome Rubin, concluded that he suffered from multiple illnesses, with a primary diagnosis of bipolar disorder.
“Before incarceration, his bipolar condition was characterized as having high energy output, mental excitement, racing thoughts, irritability, illusory thinking, efforts to engage in multiple activities at the same time, poor insight and inability to foresee consequences,” Rubin wrote, according to the NJ.com story. “In my professional opinion, his criminal behavior was related to his chronic mental disorders,”
According to the Associated Press, U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares could go above or below the 9 to 11 year range.
Dwek’s sentencing has been delayed for well over a year.