For more than an hour before he was to appear before Federal U.S. District Court Judge John C. Lifland last week to plead guilty for extortion, Freeholder Bill Braker sat alone in the courtroom.
Dressed in a blue suit and shirt, and a dark tie, he looked a little like a repentant sinner seated in a pew of a church waiting for his turn in the confessional, his hands folded in his lap, his broad face haggard with a grim expression, deep lines forming around the edges of his mouth.
Even his shoulders had slumped, a sharp contrast from the bold posture this one-time heroic cop boasted. Occasionally, he scratched at his chin and stared thoughtfully at the empty seat the judge would occupy later. His eyes seemed glazed with pain as if he struggled to recall the details of how he had wound up there or rehearsed some prepared speech he intended to give during his plea.
He nodded to the few reporters that wandered in and out, rising finally when his lawyers, Henry Klingman and Thomas Ashley, came to escort him to the defense table when Lifland arrived.
Although no one would say how long negotiations for the plea bargain had gone on, U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said Braker’s attorneys had worked out the final details a few hours prior to the trial.
Braker, charged with seven counts that included extortion and mail fraud, pled guilty to one count – admitting before the court that he had taken bribes twice, once in June 2000, and again later that year in September.
Braker said he received $3,880 in cash and political contributions from Dr. Oscar Sandoval, a vendor who supplied psychiatric services to several county institutions in exchange for Braker’s vote to re-award millions of dollars in county contracts to Sandoval.
Braker had also offered to use his connections with the Jersey City Police Department to get Sandoval contracts there as well. At the time, Braker served as deputy police director in Jersey City.
Sandoval, who was also instrumental in an extortion case against former County Executive Robert Janiszewski, was cooperating with federal authorities in the investigations, helping federal agents to videotape the transactions with Braker.
Braker will be sentenced in October and faces a range of 33 to 41 months in federal jail – although Lifland could deviate from federal guidelines slightly. Braker has also agreed to resign from his freeholder seat, which he has held since 1987 – although Christie noted that the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office has already moved to remove Braker from the seat.
“Braker represents the worst of public officials in the state who took an oath of office and chose to serve himself rather than work for the public,” Christie said. “He was willing to sell his office to the highest bidder.”
Christie said the agreement voids the other five counts in the indictment.
“I love my family”
Braker, 58, is a multi-decorated 30-year veteran of the Jersey City Police Department, who started in 1970 and rose through the ranks to become deputy director in 1997, during which time he was honored with the Department Valor Award for saving a woman’s life. Braker had served as a freeholder since 1987.
He is the first African American to serve as freeholder chairman and the first African American to serve three terms as freeholder. He was instrumental in fighting for women and minority issues.
When asked after the hearing why he had pled guilty, Braker responded by saying, “I love my family and they are under strain because of this. I’m accepting full responsibility for my actions. That’s the end of the story.”
Again later, when approached in the elevator upon leaving the court house, Braker said he did this to spare his family any more grief.
“This, on the heels of the Barry plea, adds to our incidence of success in rooting out corruption in Hudson County,” said a clearly confident Christie during a press conference following the plea hearing.
Christie boasted of a record of success in rooting out corruption that included the guilty pleas from Janiszewski, Hoboken Developer Joseph Barry, Hoboken accountant Gerald Lisa and the conviction of Freeholder Nidia Davila-Colon.
In commenting on the case, Christie added that the removal of Janiszewski and two freeholders would send a strong message to other public officials that corruption will not be tolerated.
Christie, however, was critical of the defense attorney’s claims, and castigated the press for printing exaggerations on the case.
“Unlike other the defense attorneys, we have to back up what we say and prove it beyond a reasonable doubt,” Christie said.
Braker’s case had numerous twists and turns According to published accounts, Braker had been cooperating with federal authorities in 2002 by secretly recording conversations with other vendors as part of a widening corruption probe. He apparently agreed to resign his post as part of a plea agreement. He issued a resignation letter in October 2002, but withdrew his resignation after voters reelected him to his freeholder seat in November 2002. At this point he apparently decided to fight the charges.
The last minute plea was a surprise because Braker’s attorneys, up until the day before the plea, promised to fight the case.
The Friday prior to Braker’s plea, his defense attorneys won a key victory against federal prosecutors.
During the investigation that led to his indictment, Braker had been caught on tape saying that two vendors doing business with the county had given him bribes.
Although Braker’s attorneys claim Braker recanted that claim, the vendors, with the help the prosecutors, attempted to keep the names of the vendors from becoming public and resisted efforts by the defense to interview the vendors in open court.
Since the federal prosecutors intended to use the tape in court as proof of Braker’s tendency to take bribes prior to those for which he was charged, the defense attorneys argued they had a right to question the vendors. Lifland agreed, saying Braker had the right to bring in these people to defend himself against the charges.
Speculation among some insiders suggests that federal authorities may have pressured Braker to make the last minute deal to keep the vendors names from being made public.
This would suggest that one or both of the vendors may be part of a larger federal probe, which would be in jeopardy if their names were disclosed in court.
One of these vendors currently holds millions of dollars in contracts with Hudson County and is headed by a prominent former Hudson County official. This same vendor also employs a close former associate of Christie, who may also be involved in the investigation.
When asked about continuing investigations, Christie said the corruption probes were continuing although they could go beyond the borders of Hudson County.