Jersey City – Jimmy King, a former Jersey City Council candidate in May 2009, has pleaded in U.S. District Court to accepting $15,000 in cash bribes. He admitted in court that he took the money in exchange for expediting zoning and other required city approvals for a development project.
King accepted the money from Solomon Dwek, a cooperating government witness who posed as a developer interested in fast-tracking various real estate deals across Hudson County, including in Jersey City.
King was one of 46 public officials arrested in the summer of 2009 in connection with Operation Bid Rig, a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) corruption bust that relied heavily on Dwek.
King faces 20 years in jail when he is sentenced in January 2012.
In related news this week, Louis Manzo, another defendant in the 2009 corruption case, has pleaded not guilty to allegedly traveling to establish and facilitate a bribery scheme.
A former assemblyman and 2009 Jersey City mayoral candidate, a federal grand jury charged Manzo two weeks ago in a second superseding indictment for this alleged offense. He is charged with two counts of violating the federal Travel Act for allegedly traveling twice in aid of bribery, in February and March 2009, and one count of allegedly concealing and not reporting federal offenses committed by others in connection with the scheme.
Manzo was one of the few to speak out against the FBI sting operation, holding a press conference last year to criticize it.
He is still facing other charges in connection with his alleged dealings with Dwek.