JERSEY CITY – Former Jersey City Councilman Mariano Vega, who pleaded guilty last September to accepting bribes from a government informant, will be sentenced today in federal court in Newark.
Vega, who also served as the director of the Department of Parks, Engineering, and Planning for Hudson County, was among 44 public officials and religious leaders who were arrested in July 2009 as part of a Federal Bureau of Investigation corruption sting.
Last year Vega pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to taking a $20,000 bribe from government informant Solomon Dwek. In exchange for the cash Vega admitted that he promised to expedite zoning approvals for a development Dwek said he planned to build on Garfield Avenue. Vega also admitted in court that he had agreed to accept an additional $10,000 bribe from Dwek as part of the deal, although Vega was arrested before he received this final payment.
U.S. District Judge Jose Linares could sentence Vega to as much as 37 months behind bars and require him to pay a fine. – E. Assata Wright