Former Hoboken And Newark Official Sentenced For Taking Bribes

NORTH JERSEY – A former official in both Newark and Hoboken found out his fate this week after pleading guilty to a bribery scheme.

Carmelo Garcia, 51 — who had served as deputy Newark mayor and director of the Newark Department Economic and Housing Development — was sentenced Wednesday for taking bribes and kickbacks from two Newark business owners, said the office of U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer.

Garcia was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release, federal officials announced Thursday.

The bribes were meant to influence Garcia as he helped the business owners acquire and redevelop properties owned by the city of Newark.

He had pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to three counts of conspiracy to defraud the city of Newark and the NCEDC of Garcia’s honest services. He'd also pleaded guilty to wire fraud and receiving bribes in connection with the business of a federally funded local government and organization.

Prosecutors say the schemes continued from 2017 through April 2019.

As an executive officer of the NCEDC (now known as Invest Newark), Garcia received "significant monetary payments and other benefits from Frank Valvano, Jr., Irwin Sablosky, and others in exchange for Garcia’s use of his official positions and influence within the city of Newark and the NCEDC to advance real estate development matters of interest to Valvano and Sablosky," said federal officials.

Received Watches And Chains

In addition to cash, Garcia also received jewelry, including high-end watches and chains, from Valvano and Sablosky’s pawnbroker and jewelry business, federal officials said.

Phone records and text messages obtained by law enforcement showed extensive communication between Garcia, Valvano, Sablosky, and others, officials said.

In June 2018, officials said, Garcia, then the acting mayor and the director of the city’s DEHD, received an envelope containing $25,000 in cash — supplied by Valvano through an intermediary — in the restroom of a New Jersey restaurant.

Valvano and Sablosky have also been charged in the schemes and have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery, and both have been sentenced, officials said.

Garcia had served as the 33rd District Assemblyman, representing Hoboken and Jersey City, as well as head of the Hoboken Housing Authority.