Legislator accepts corruption plea deal
Northjersey.com, Saturday, November 20, 2004
By JOSH GOHLKE and PETER SAMPSON
STAFF WRITERS

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Longtime Assemblyman Anthony Impreveduto of Secaucus pleaded guilty Friday to spending tens of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions on travel, clothes, income taxes and other personal expenses.

Under the terms of a plea agreement with state prosecutors, the 56-year-old Democrat resigned his elected office Thursday night, agreed to leave his teaching job at Secaucus High School as of Jan. 13 and may never again seek public office or employment.

But he is expected to avoid prison time when he is sentenced in January, instead serving probation and paying a fine of up to $25,000.

The assemblyman, chairman of the Legislature's ethics committee last year, also agreed to reimburse his campaign fund for between $20,000 and $50,000 that he admitted misusing from 1999 through this year. The precise amount will be negotiated by attorneys. He also must donate all the funds in his campaign account - at last report, more than $144,000 - to charity.

"It's not one of the best days I've had in my life," Impreveduto said before entering his plea before Superior Court Judge Maria Marinari Sypek. "It's upsetting, certainly."

But the 17-year lawmaker and former Secaucus councilman, clad in a checked blazer and accompanied by his brother, appeared remarkably at ease when he walked into the Trenton courtroom. He chatted amiably with reporters, noting, "I know who I am." Of the plea, he said, "It is what it is."

State Attorney General Peter C. Harvey, who has been under considerable pressure to produce high-profile public corruption cases, said this was his office's first conviction of a sitting legislator in "modern history." State Division of Criminal Justice spokesman John Hagerty said he could find no record of another such state conviction.

"We will continue to pursue public corruption," Harvey, flanked by 16 law enforcement officials, said outside the courthouse. "This is just one in a series of cases. ... We said we would do this work, and we have the results to show for it."

Harvey said an 18-month investigation found that Impreveduto had "eight or nine" credit cards that drew on his campaign fund and were used to pay a variety of personal and family expenses, including eyeglasses, hearing aids and more than $2,000 in income taxes. The attorney general said the people who gave to Impreveduto's campaign are the victims.

"They thought they were giving it for campaign expenses, and, in fact, he was using it for all kinds of personal expenses and to enrich himself," Harvey said.

Impreveduto and his lawyer, John McDonald, declined to comment after the plea.

Impreveduto pleaded guilty to two charges: misapplication of entrusted property, a third-degree crime, and concealment or misrepresentation of contributions or expenditures, a fourth-degree crime. He pleaded guilty to an accusation filed by state authorities, waiving his constitutional right to be formally charged by a grand jury and to stand trial.

In May, state investigators searched Impreveduto's home and district office and took away financial records. Afterward, he told The Record that he had used campaign funds to pay for trips that he and his wife took to London, Curacao and Toronto. He said at the time that the trips were related to his official business, which could make expenses by his campaign fund legal, but he also admitted that using the account to pay for his wife was probably illegal.

A review of Impreveduto's campaign-finance reports for his 2001 reelection bid showed more than $105,000 in American Express charges listed simply as "expenses." State law requires campaigns to itemize expenses and disclose their purpose.

Several Democrats expressed sympathy for Impreveduto and praised his legislative career.

Acting Governor Codey's "heart goes out to the assemblyman and his family," said Codey spokeswoman Kelley Heck. Assembly Majority Leader Joseph J. Roberts Jr., D-Camden, said Impreveduto deserves credit for his efforts to protect consumers.

"I've known Tony Impreveduto to be a dedicated representative for the people of the 32nd District," said Nicholas J. Sacco, the mayor of North Bergen and a state senator representing the same district. "His resignation will be a tremendous loss to his constituents."

Secaucus Mayor Dennis Elwell said Impreveduto probably stepped down quickly because he faced the prospect that family members would be drawn into the investigation.

"From another perspective, we are losing an assemblyman who has tenure in the Assembly and some great committee assignments that can get a lot done for Secaucus," Elwell said.

Impreveduto, who was elected for the ninth time last year, chaired the Assembly's Regulated Professions and Independent Authorities Committee and was a member of its Transportation Committee. He also served on the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards, which is supposed to monitor improprieties among lawmakers. Last year, when Impreveduto was the chairman of the ethics committee, it held only one meeting - during which the assemblyman blamed the press for exaggerating the problem of corruption in state politics.

Democratic county committee members in the district will choose someone to fill Impreveduto's seat for the remainder of his term, through January 2005. Elwell said he is supporting Vincent Prieto, Secaucus construction code official, partly because he believes the demographics of the district require that its next assemblyman be Latino. But he also said he expects Kearny Mayor Alberto Santos to challenge his choice on the grounds that his town deserves to field an assemblyman.

E-mail: gohlke@northjersey.com



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