Bloomfield Councilman Elias Chalet Pleads Guilty To Bribery Charge

BLOOMFIELD, NJ — Bloomfield 1st Ward Township Councilman Elias N. Chalet pleaded guilty on Tuesday to soliciting and accepting a bribe of $15,000 from a local business owner, promising that he would use his position on the council to ensure that the township went ahead with its planned purchase of the man’s commercial property, prosecutors said.

According to the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General, Chalet, 55, of Bloomfield, pleaded guilty to a second-degree charge of bribery in official and political matters before Superior Court Judge Martin Cronin in Essex County.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Chalet be sentenced to five years in state prison, including two years of parole ineligibility under New Jersey’s Anti-Corruption Statute, prosecutors said.

Chalet must forfeit $15,000 in funds, representing the bribe payments he accepted. He also must forfeit his public position and will be permanently barred from elected office and public employment in New Jersey, prosecutors said.

Chalet was arrested on Nov. 16, 2015. The bribery charge was contained in a Jan. 29, 2016 state grand jury indictment, prosecutors stated.

Chalet was subsequently charged in an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption North Unit and the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.

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“Chalet’s brazen solicitation of a $15,000 bribe was old-school corruption at its worst,” Attorney General Christopher Porrino said. “Fortunately, Chalet’s target didn’t simply accept his crooked offer – he recorded it for our detectives.”

Prosecutors said that Chalet initially met with the business owner on Oct. 8, 2015, in front of Chalet’s real estate office on Broad Street in Bloomfield. Chalet allegedly told the business owner that the township’s planned purchase of his commercial property would go through only if the owner gave Chalet $15,000 in cash.

The business owner promptly reported the meeting to the New Jersey State Police, and the state commenced its investigation, prosecutors said.

In a subsequent meeting on Oct. 21, 2015 at Chalet’s real estate office, Chalet again discussed that the business owner would pay $15,000 in return for Chalet ensuring and facilitating that the property be purchased by the township, prosecutors said.

During the meeting, which was recorded, Chalet and the business owner agreed the business owner would make an initial payment of $10,000 in cash, with the balance of $5,000 to be paid after the township purchased the property. While Chalet initially asked the business owner to pay the cash through a middle man, Chalet ultimately agreed to receive the payments directly, prosecutors stated.

According to prosecutors, the bribe payments were made at Chalet’s real estate office; the councilman accepted the first cash payment of $10,000 from the business owner on Oct. 23, 2015.

“Police arrested Chalet on Nov. 16, 2015 at his real estate office after he accepted the remaining $5,000 in cash from the business owner,” prosecutors stated. “Those meetings also were recorded.”

The vote on the purchase of the business property was scheduled for the day Chalet was arrested; he was arrested before the vote could take place, prosecutors said.

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When the New Jersey State Police moved to arrest Chalet minutes after he accepted the final cash payment of $5,000, Chalet remained locked in his real estate office for approximately 45 minutes, refusing to respond to a detective who repeatedly knocked on the door and a window of the office, prosecutors said.

Relatives of Chalet approached detectives at the scene and tried to reach Chalet on his cell phone, reporting that Chalet was in the bathroom, prosecutors said.

“It is believed that Chalet flushed the $5,000 in cash down the toilet to prevent state police detectives from finding it when they searched his office after his arrest,” prosecutors alleged in their statement on Tuesday.

• See related article: Meet the Bloomfield Town Council Candidates: Elias Chalet

Patch file photo: Elias Chalet