Prosecutors Seek Greater Sentence For Ex-Hoboken Official Raia

HOBOKEN, NJ — Federal prosecutors are appealing the sentence of Hoboken real estate developer and former Councilman Frank Raia, who was convicted in June of promoting a voter bribery scheme, his attorney confirmed. In December, Raia was sentenced to three months in federal prison by Judge Judge William Martini.

Raia was charged in a 2013 scheme in which campaign workers were allegedly paid $50 to vote. Several campaign workers were indicted in the scheme and have pleaded guilty.

Raia’s lawyer, Alan Zegas, said Thursday that Raia is expected to report to a West Virginia jail to start his term in March. But federal prosecutors have filed an appeal.

Zagas said, “They’re asking for more. The judge methodically went over the records. I believe the requests are unwarranted. The judge said something to the effect that in 18 years on bench, he’d never seen such a compelling presentation on behalf of a defendant.”

Zagas said that the court had received more than 140 letters of support from “people that he came across all walks of the entirety of his life, about his multiple good deeds, things he’s done for people, even saving their lives.”

Raia pleaded not guilty to the crime, but was found guilty in a jury trial. Zagas said his client was hoping to get probation. Initially he faced five years in jail and a $250,000 fine.

Besides serving briefly as a councilman in the 1980s, Raia served as the Board of Education president. He developed affordable housing in central Hoboken and luxury housing in the northwest part of town. He also has served on several volunteer boards.

Because of his voluneerism in town, an annex on a school building at Third and Garden streets is named for him.

The charge was related to Raia’s unsuccessful 2013 run for City Council.

In Hoboken over the years, political machines have engaged in the practice of sending workers to affordable housing and senior buildings, asking residents to fill out vote-by-mail ballots in advance, a way to ensure a few hundred votes before Election Day. Political candidates or organizations to pay campaign workers $40 or $50 to round up these ballots as well as to get out the vote on Election Day. However, if these workers are encouraged to vote in exchange for the money, it becomes a crime.

The U.S. Attorney's press release from June, following Raia's conviction, stated, "Francis Raia, 67, of Hoboken, New Jersey, was a candidate for Hoboken City Council in 2013. He was convicted of one count of conspiracy to violate the federal Travel Act for causing the mails to be used in aid of voter bribery, contrary to New Jersey state law, during that election. The jury deliberated for one day, following a five-day trial before Senior U.S. District Judge William J. Martini in Newark federal court."

At the time, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito added, “He did so by deploying his loyal foot soldiers to buy votes from people who he thought were in need of money, and then creating a phony cover story to conceal his tracks.”