Claiming that any fool with a telephone can call a newspaper with unsubstantiated claims of wrongdoing in the county jail, county officials confirmed that an FBI probe of the jail had taken place, but that no one yet knows the exact details behind the investigation.
Members of the Hudson County Freeholders also clashed with the county executive’s office staff as to why the board was not informed of an ongoing federal probe at the county’s correctional facility.
On Aug. 21, the New Jersey Law Journal broke the story, claiming that the FBI had initiated an investigation in July of possible special treatment for a federal prisoner temporarily held at the Hudson County Correctional Facility in Kearny.
The Law Journal said that FBI agents visited the facility in July to investigate allegedly preferential treatment given to David Chang, 57, of Cresskill, who was held at the jail from Dec. 10 to Dec. 14 last year on fundraising charges associated with Sen. Robert Torrecelli. The investigation was part of a series of probes that had several other local Democrats charged as well.
The FBI, according the press office at the Hudson County Executive’s office, took logs detailing people who might have visited Chang while he was held in the jail awaiting transfer to another facility.
The FBI, according to the Law Journal report, was looking to see if Sen. Torricelli’s office had arranged for Chang to get better treatment at the jail.
Two weeks ago, picking up on the Law Journal’s lead, the Newark Star Ledger also published the story, although neither publication could supply details as to what the favorable treatment was. Last week, the Jersey Journal published a story quoting unnamed sources who alleged that the FBI was investigating whether Chang had received sexual favors from a female jail guard. The Jersey Journal report also claimed that the FBI might also be investigating a prostitution ring operated by female jail guards in the facility.
The FBI office in Newark would not confirm or deny the claim or confirm that the investigation was underway. The county’s executive’s counsel, Bill Northgrave, however, said the investigation has taken place, but his office could not go into the details except to say that some of the charges made in the Jersey Journal’s report were questionable.
Some subpoenas, but …
“The administration is aware that the FBI requested some documents and that some personnel have been subpoenaed,” said Northgrave. “We have fully cooperated with the requests. But as for the other charges detailed in the newspaper, the article was the first we heard about them. Those charges are ludicrous at best. Someone could have made them up, for all we know.”
County Executive Robert Janiszewski issued a strongly-worded letter on Sept. 11 calling the sexual allegations malicious and untrue.
“I believe these allegations are likely either the musings of someone who wished to heap scorn upon my administration, or someone who is woefully misguided in trying to ingratiate themselves with law enforcement,” Janiszewski wrote.
Janiszewski suggested the county might conduct an investigation of its own regarding the jail. But the freeholders said such an investigation would have to be conducted by the Hudson County Prosecutor’s office, not the freeholders office.
“It is obvious that whoever passed this information onto the newspaper didn’t know what he was talking about,” said Ralph Green, Director of Public Safety. “It is not fair that everyone should suffer because of a few disgruntled employees.”
Green said the state routinely inspects the jail and has done so within the last six months. No hint of such irregularities came up on any of the reports.
“The newspaper (The Jersey Journal) also claimed that money has been misappropriated,” Green said. “Except for petty cash, we don’t have money at the facility.”
This is not the first time that the jail has become the subject of unjustified rumors. Green suffered allegations in 1996 of allowing wrongdoing to occur in the jail when he was fired as warden of the facility and the state took over. This came on the heels of an intense labor dispute. After an 11-month investigation, the state found no wrongdoing. Green was later rehired as the public safety director.
In a subsequent article, the Jersey Journal defended its sources, but refused to comment on who they were.
Left in the dark
The freeholders criticized the county executive’s office for not informing them of the ongoing investigation. “I think the chairman of the Public Safety Committee [William Barker] should have been notified before he read about it in the newspaper,” said Freeholder Maurice Fitzgibbons.
“Just one phone call would have sufficed,” Braker said.
Although Northgrave apologized for the lack of notification, he said the nature of the investigation had made his office keep silent. Freeholder Brian Stack called this an example of “closed-door government” and said that Braker should have been notified.
“This board was left out of the loop and so when people read the article and asked what it was about, I had no idea,” Stack said. “This board is not a rubber stamp for the administration. We are the county’s governing body and should be kept informed.”
Freeholder Chairman Sal Vega asked that a full report be supplied to the Public Safety Committee this week including all communications with state or federal authorities.
“It is important that we have some information,” he said.