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Observers say that even for New Jersey where charges of corruption run rampant, this is a massive scandal. The suspects were arrested by agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and appeared before a judge in Federal District Court later that day.
The arrests followed an 18-month investigation in which an undercover agent and cooperating witnesses posed as insurance brokers and traded wads of cash ranging from $1,500 to $17,500 for assurances of votes on school boards and city councils to steer business and projects in a certain direction. The investigation initially focused on the Pleasantville Board of Education, which is known for having had 13 superintendents in the last 10 years.
That district is now working with a state-appointed monitor under a consent decree. But little things can turn into big things as far as corruption goes and investigators started connecting the dots. There were a lot of dots according to Christopher J. Christie, the United States attorney for New Jersey. He said investigators told him it seemed like they were on a "corruption tour" of New Jersey as more and more evidence came in.
That tour, prosecutors said, quickly expanded across the state. Most of the corrupt deals looked like an episode of the Sopranos as meetings took place in strip club parking lots and other colorful locations. State's Attorney Mr. Christie, a man not easily shocked said that he was stunned by the business-as-usual boldness in the corruption probe on the part of the officials.
The FBI dubbed the investigation "Operation Broken Boards." One of those charged, Assemblyman Mimes Hacked Jr., is the chairman of the State Government Committee, which is responsible for government rules, oversight, and ironically- ethics legislation? "It's been six years doing this job, and I thought I could no longer be surprised by a combination of brazenness, arrogance and stupidity," Mr. Christie told the New York Times recently. "But the people elected in this state continue to defy description."
Along with Mr. Hacked, who is also the mayor of Orange, the highest-ranking person arrested was Assemblyman Alfred E. Steele, who is also a Baptist minister and an undershirt in Passaic County. Both hold leadership posts in the Democratic-controlled Assembly. Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites        
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