After one of the co-defendants for the Federal Corruption Case, involving Trenton’s Mayor, pleaded guilty, District of New Jersey United States Attorney Paul Fishman told NJTV News Managing Editor that betrayal of public trust is taken very seriously.
Fishman said that ‘JoJo’ Giorgianni plead guilty today to two accounts of extortion, one account of Conspiracy to Distributes Narcotics and Felon in Possession of a Weapon. He said that it was a plea bargain and Giorgianni’s girlfriend plead guilty for her involvement with the narcotics conspiracy.
Mayor Tony Mack’s trial is schedules for about a month from now and the case involves wire tapes, recordings by cooperating witnesses, and a fair number of documents, Fishman said.
“Political corruption has been the signature program in my office for 40 years. We have a separate division in our office dedicated solely to investigating and prosecuting corruption cases. We continue to bring important cases to remind the public that a betrayal of public trust is something we take very seriously and we have no tolerance for public officials that violate federal law,” Fishman said.
Fishman said that the one thing they try to achieve when prosecuting officials is to dissuade other public officials who might be tempted, to yield that temptation.
When asked about having enough staff, Fishman said, “As the budget crisis has gotten worse, people leave my office, the attorney general of the United States has imposed a department wide hiring freeze, and that hurts us.”