Senate Republican Whip Kevin O’Toole was shocked that Judge William Martini sentenced Sharpe James, the disgraced former Newark Mayor and Democratic state Senator, to just 27 months in prison for conspiring with his girlfriend to swindle the citizens of Newark out of hundreds of thousands of dollars from the sale of city-owned property:
“Any theft is wrong, but stealing from the taxpayers of an economically disadvantaged city like Newark qualifies as a particularly heinous act of thievery. Astoundingly, Judge Martini gave the shortest sentence suggested by the federal guidelines for the crime. In doing so, he has emboldened other corrupt politicians now conspiring to steal from taxpayers.
“This state must stamp out corruption. Corruption raises taxes and drives away honest businesses. It’s costing this state too much. Federal prosecutors argued that, to send a message to corrupt politicians, Martini should have ignored guidelines and sentenced James to as many as 20 years in prison.
“That Martini didn’t even sentence James to three years in jail after the former mayor was charged with five counts of fraud and conspiracy is a clear sign that the judge just doesn’t understand how fed up the citizens of New Jersey are with greedy, dishonest public officials.
“After his conviction on these charges, prosecutors decided not to prosecute James on charges of abusing city credit cards. In light of this inexcusably weak sentence, I urge U.S. Attorney Chris Christie to reconsider and bring James to trial on these additional charges credit card charges. Violating the public trust should be more costly for politicians.”
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November 19, 2008
