BHANGEELAAR! citing another news item from the USA where another bribes-taking ex mayor is making 'news'

"Judge wise to hand former Hoboken mayor two years behind bars for taking bribes.




In the span of one year, Peter Cammarano has gone from mayor and rising star in Democratic Party circles to federal convict.

Do politicians in this state yet see and understand the consequences of what happens when they abuse their elected offices and break the law?
Judges have stopped just slapping dirty politicians on the wrist. Now, corrupt officials are being locked up, and we applaud this. An elected official who's offered an envelope stuffed with hundred dollar bills ought to be fearful of what taking that envelope means. Politicians, from state senators down to local school board members, should know that if they take the bribe, they can expect to go to prison and lose their coveted pension.
Cammarano, one of more than 40 politicians and religious leaders arrested last summer in a federal corruption and money laundering sting that rocked New Jersey and Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced Thursday to two years in prison for accepting bribes. He had only been on the job as mayor of Hoboken for three weeks when he was caught. He pleaded guilty in April to extortion conspiracy. Had he gone to trial and lost, he could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.
Two years is appropriate for a first-time offender. It's time enough for Cammarano to think long and hard about how his political career is ruined and how badly he's hurt himself and his family.
Former Assemblyman and Lumberton Township manager Daniel Van Pelt, also arrested last summer as part of this sting, was found guilty by a jury in May of bribery and attempted extortion. He's due to be sentenced later this month and faces up to 30 years in prison. It's unlikely he'll get anywhere near that much, but he surely will be going to prison.
Former Jersey City Deputy Mayor Leona Beldini, another official arrested last summer, was sentenced in June to three years in prison for two counts of bribery. She's not in jail yet; the same judge who sentenced Cammarano said she could remain out on bail while she appeals her conviction.
South Jersey's most well-known corrupt politician, Wayne Bryant, remains in federal prison serving a four-year term for his corrupt acts, which included taking a $35,000-a-year job at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey where he showed up once in a while and did virtually nothing.
This is the stuff that sickens New Jerseyans and causes them to have little faith in the people they elect. It detracts from the good politicians -- yes, there are a few of them -- who try to be ethical and responsible stewards of public dollars.
We want judges to continue to harshly punish politicians who knowingly violate the terms of their elected office and trade their power for cash and favors -- prison time, fines and a loss of pension. A powerful message is sent every time a Cammarano or Bryant trades in his fancy suit for a drab prison
"