Ex-N.J. Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt is convicted of taking $10K bribe

Van Pelt is the highest ranking public official convicted in sweeping FBI probe into corruption, money-laundering

Patti Sapone/The Star-LedgerFormer N.J. Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt heads to his car after he leaves federal court during his corruption trial today. Van Pelt was convicted today of taking a $10,000 bribe.

OCEAN COUNTY — Former N.J. Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt was convicted today of accepting a $10,000 bribe to expedite environmental permits on a development project in Ocean Township for a corrupt real estate developer.

The highest ranking public official to be convicted in a massive corruption and money-laundering investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office, Van Pelt was found guilty of extortion and bribery. He faces up to 30 years in prison.

Van Pelt, a former Ocean Township mayor and committeeman, brings to 19 the number of people who have been convicted or pleaded guilty in the investigation.

The verdict came after two days of deliberations and six days of testimony before U.S. District Judge Joel Pisano in Trenton where prosecutors alleged Van Pelt, a Republican who resigned before the end of his first term, "sold'' his influence over state agencies.

The former Ocean County lawmaker insisted to jurors he accepted the cash from developer Solomon Dwek as a retainer for his services as a consultant. He said he agreed to take on Dwek as a client because he liked the vision of the developer -- whom he knew as David Esenbach -- despite his lack of knowledge about the state permitting process.

In reality, Dwek was secretly working with federal investigators by meeting with dozens of public officials and offering them bribes to help him with fictitious development projects. Van Pelt was one of 44 public officials and rabbis arrested last July in a massive federal investigation into public corruption and money laundering.

During the trial, federal prosecutors played for jurors a videotape showing Van Pelt accepting a white envelope stuffed with $100 bills after a dinner meeting with Dwek at Morton's Steakhouse in Atlantic City on Feb. 21, 2009. Jurors had watched another videotape from a meeting 10 days earlier in which Dwek offers to pay him $10,000 and Van Pelt laughingly suggests Dwek hire him as a consultant.

On the witness stand, Van Pelt acknowledged accepting the cash, but said it was a consultant's fee. Defense attorneys played a videotape of a meeting three months after the cash exchange in which Van Pelt tells the developer, who was offering more bribes, to ``keep your money.''

Van Pelt testified he discussed his consulting plans with Marci Hochman, general ethics counsel to the state Assembly. He said she advised him he was permitted to do consulting work while a state lawmaker as long as he did not introduce any legislation benefiting a client or represented a client before a state agency or state board.

However, Hochman testified Van Pelt never told her he had a client and never told her he planned to consult on projects in Ocean Township. She said she would have requested more information, including a proposed copy of a contract, from Van Pelt if he had revealed that information.

Federal prosecutors contended Van Pelt was not working as a consultant because there was no contract or even a receipt for the payment. They noted he deposited $5,500 of the cash into a joint checking account before he spoke with Hochman and he deposited another $4,400 into an Etrade account a week later.

Secret video camera captures assemblyman Van Pelt accepting an envelope of cash

Officials arrested in corruption ring leave federal court