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June 08, 2006
A Good Day All Around
Closer to home, there was this great news that I heard driving home today:
NEWARK — A federal judge remanded former Middletown Township Committeeman Raymond J. O'Grady - who was found guilty earlier today on five counts of extortion and bribery - to house arrest and increased his bail to $200,000....O'Grady, 56, former director of the Monmouth County motor pool, was one of 13 former and current county and local public officials in Monmouth County charged in February and March 2005 as part of a wide-ranging and ongoing FBI money-laundering and bribery investigation called "Operation Bid Rig.''
He was accused of taking $6,000 in bribes from an undercover agent working with a contractor who was operating a fictitious company set up by the FBI as part of the corruption probe.
It's a beautiful thing to see slime politicians get convicted. The jury only needed three hours to reach a verdict.
I guess the glove fit.
Posted by Mr. Bingley at June 8, 2006 05:45 PM
Comments
I don't know, Bing. If I'm reading it correctly, it looks like everyone nailed in this corruption investigation has been accused of accepting bribes from this fictious company and no others. Not a pattern of taking bribes, not accusations of any other biribery events, and not soliciting payoffs in this case or any other. It just seems too neat and also the timing is too coincidental in the light of the changing political leadership in the county.
Posted by: Suzette at June 8, 2006 09:56 PM
But does it make a difference if the company is ficticious? He certainly thought the company was real.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 9, 2006 10:41 AM
Granted.
I'm only saying that the was nothing to suggest corruption before this event. No history or suspicion of wrong-doing, only Pahlugi's suggestion that these people would make likely targets for a sting. The arrests and this conviction are for the sting activites, not for ...
Don't make me talk local politics, Bingley. It makes my blood boil.
Om. om. om.
Posted by: Suzette at June 9, 2006 10:51 AM
Hehe, I know what you mean. The stuff in Middletown drives me insane.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 9, 2006 11:16 AM
They sure are bargain shoppers in jersey tho. $6 grand is like Randy Cunningham chump change.
Posted by: tree hugging sister at June 9, 2006 01:38 PM
township/county guys come cheap, i guess.
but he also couldn't get the national guard to help him clear out his loot, either.
Posted by: Mr. Bingley at June 9, 2006 01:47 PM