Painters admit bribing school official
Wednesday, June 22, 2005
BY JOHN P. MARTIN, New Jersey Star Ledger

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Star-Ledger Staff
Two operators of an Essex County painting company yesterday admitted passing a $25,000 bribe to a Paterson school official for a contract, the latest outcome in a widening federal investigation of corruption in the school district.

Jose LoGrecco and Charles Paraboschi pleaded guilty to a single count of making corrupt payments to a school official during separate hearings in Newark before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares.

Both men, who had previously been convicted on unrelated state charges in connection with their business, face more than a year in federal prison when they are sentenced in September.

LoGrecco, 54, of Park Ridge, is president of Paint Smart Contractor Inc., a Nutley company. Paraboschi, 66, of West Paterson, is his vice president.

Paraboschi acknowledged that he handed $25,000 in cash to the unidentified school official in the parking lot of a Passaic County restaurant in September 2000. The money, he and LoGrecco agreed, was a payoff for a $204,000 school contract and to ensure the painting company would get future contracts.

Neither the defendants nor the prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Resnik and Jeffrey Chiesa, would identify the school official.

But Resnik said the case sprung from the same corruption investigation that has already netted two convictions.

In April, a window contractor admitted giving nearly $50,000 in gifts and home improvements to two high-ranking district officials. Earlier, Louis Milone, the former director of the district's custodial and maintenance services, admitted taking $10,000 worth of free cruises from a district contractor and then rarely inspecting his work.

Milone resigned in 2001. His boss, facilities director James Cummings, was fired the next year.

Resnik declined to say how the investigation began, but said Paterson school officials have been cooperative.

In 2003, LoGrecco and Paraboschi were banned from receiving public school contracts in New Jersey for three years after they concealed wage violations the company had incurred in New York. Last year, both men pleaded guilty to state charges of making false claims under a government contract.

John P. Martin covers federal courts and law enforcement. He may be reached at jmartin@starled ger.com or (973) 622-3405.