Mon September 10, 2012



(CNN) -- FBI agents arrested the mayor of New Jersey's capital city on Monday after he allegedly accepted bribes during an undercover sting operation, according to the FBI and court records.

Trenton Mayor Tony Mack was charged with conspiracy to corrupt commerce by extortion, according to a federal complaint.

Mack, 46, was arrested early Monday, FBI spokeswoman Barbara Woodruff said.

The mayor, his brother Ralphiel Mack, and business associate Joseph A. "JoJo" Giorgianni all face federal charges in connection with the scheme which allegedly involved accepting cash payments from a developer.

From the archives: Ex-mayor in New Jersey gets two years in prison

"The investigation revealed evidence of a conspiracy among these defendants and others to corrupt certain functions of Trenton City government in favor of purported developer seeking to build a parking garage on city-owned property in exchange for cash payments totaling approximately $119,000," according to the complaint filed in federal court.

To avoid detection, the complaint said, Mack employed intermediaries, "used code words and limited discussions of the scheme over the telephone."

The charges were the result of a two-year FBI investigation.
A Democrat who began his term in July 2010, Mack has been beleaguered by questions about public finance and accusations of cronyism.

Last May, his deputy mayor, Paul Sigmund IV, was arrested and charged with heroin possession and assaulting a police officer, which led to his prompt resignation.

Ralphiel Mack was the head football coach at Trenton High School, according to the complaint.

Giorgianni was the owner of a sandwich shop and clubhouse in Trenton who, according to the complaint, described himself as someone who acts as a buffer for the mayor's questionable activities.

The complaint details meetings, telephone conversations and text messages starting in September 2010.

In one of the alleged meetings, Tony Mack met with Giovanni at an Atlantic City casino and accepted a cash-stuffed envelope that had come from an FBI informant posing as a representative of the developer.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/09/10/justice/new-jersey-mayor-arrested/index.html