Statements sparked internal ethics inquiry
Ralph J. Marra, Jr., acting U.S. Attorney answers questions at a news conference in Newark addressing the federal investigation of public corruption and international money laundering conspiracy in which 44 individuals were charged in this July file photo. TRENTON — Last July, Ralph Marra Jr. stood before one of the biggest news conferences ever held inside the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
More than 40 people — mayors, rabbis, legislators, public officials and others — had just been arrested on corruption and money laundering charges. Another had been charged with selling kidneys on the black market.
Somberly going through a list of those in custody, Marra, then the acting U.S. attorney, said: "The politicians willingly put themselves up for sale. For these defendants, corruption was a way of life. They existed in an ethics-free zone."
Weysan Dun, then the head of the FBI’s Newark Division, called the arrests unprecedented. "This case is not about politics. It is certainly not about religion," he said. "It is about arrogance and it is about a shocking betrayal of the public trust."
The comments played across the front pages of newspapers across the country. And then sparked an internal ethics inquiry by the Department of Justice over whether the state’s two top federal law enforcement officials had stepped over the line.
Now, a year after the largest undercover sting in the history of New Jersey, Marra and Dun have quietly been cleared of any wrongdoing in connection with their public comments in the high-profile case.
In a letter last week from the Justice Department’s Office of Professional Responsibility, both men were informed they had acted properly.
"Based upon the results of our investigation, we concluded that you did not violate any professional obligation and thus did not commit professional misconduct or exercise poor judgment in this matter," wrote Mary Patrice Brown, acting counsel for the office.
Justice Department guidelines say a prosecutor "shall refrain from making extrajudicial comments that pose a serious and imminent threat of heightening public condemnation of the accused."
An anonymous ethics complaint made after the news conference alleged that the comments had been aimed at boosting the campaign for governor by Chris Christie against Democratic incumbent Jon Corzine. Before he was elected, Christie was the U.S. attorney for New Jersey, with Marra as his top deputy.
Former Democratic assemblyman Louis Manzo, who was among those charged last summer, raised the issue in his own case. He accused the FBI and federal prosecutors of orchestrating the sting operation to help catapult Christie into office.
Corzine’s campaign also went after Marra for the comments, charging that the U.S. Attorney’s Office had been politicized.
Marra, who left the U.S. Attorney’s Office this year and is now senior vice president for legal and governmental affairs at the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, said there was nothing wrong with what he said.
"We had so many facts in the record and affidavits that we had a lot of evidence to talk about," he said. "That made it different than the run-of-the-mill case."
He noted there had been no immediate question raised by the department after the news conference. A copy of the press release had been sent to Washington the night before, and the only question on it was about when it could be released, he recalled. He later got a call congratulating him.
The first time Marra heard there might be a problem was after he saw a wire service story, quoting unnamed sources, that he was under investigation. When he inquired about it, no one would produce the letter of complaint.
"It doesn’t trouble me that I was investigated. It troubles me that it was leaked and nothing was ever done about it," said Marra.
‘GRATIFIED’
Dun, who now serves as special agent in charge of the FBI’s division in Omaha, Neb., said he had been surprised an inquiry was initiated.
"I was confident my comments were consistent with DOJ guidelines," he said. "I’m gratified the Department of Justice has come to the same conclusion."
Corzine, in a recent interview, said he did not believe the massive corruption and money laundering sting had anything to do with his defeat, nor did he think it was orchestrated as a political ploy. "I think that would be an extraordinary abuse of power," said the former governor. "The election was lost because unemployment was 10 percent. People were hurting."
Since the arrests last July, 19 people have pleaded guilty — most recently Rabbi Eliahu Ben Haim, who went before a judge last month and admitted he used religious charities to launder up to $1.5 million that he thought had come from insurance scams, bank frauds and the sale of knock-off handbags.
Two other people have been convicted, former Jersey City deputy mayor Leona Beldini and former assemblyman Daniel VanPelt. Jack Shaw, a political operative charged with extortion, died.
One of those charged is still missing. Yolie Gertner, charged in the money laundering side of the case, was never arrested and disappeared after the story broke. He is believed to be in Israel.
By Josh Margolin/Statehouse Bureau Staff and Ted Sherman/The Star-Ledger