Jersey City School Board Pres., 4 More Charged With Taking Bribes

JERSEY CITY, NJ —Sudhan Thomas, president of the Jersey City Board of Education, was charged with taking bribes as part of a major investigation of political corruption in Hudson and Morris counties.

Thomas was charged with second-degree bribery in official and political matters and second-degree acceptance or receipt of unlawful benefit by a public servant for official behavior, New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced Thursday.

Thomas was charged with accepting $35,000 in cash bribes, $25,000 one time and $10,000 another time, Grewal said.

In return for the cash, Thomas allegedly agreed to arranged for the Board of Education to hire a cooperating witness to be hired as a special counsel, Grewal said. Thomas and the witness allegedly discussed specific work projects the witness would receive from the board, he said.

Thomas and the cooperating witness, a tax attorney, had a conversation regarding the cash payments, officials said.

The witness said to Thomas, "Make me special counsel for..." "Real estate," Thomas said.

"Yeah, real estate... that's perfect," the witness said. "Yeah, nobody questions anything... nobody questions all of that stuff," Thomas said.

Thomas' alleged criminal conduct occurred between May and July. Thomas lost his bid for re-election to the school board in November. His term ends Dec. 31.

Thomas did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.

In addition to Thomas, four others, including former State Assemblyman Jason O'Donnell, were also charged with second-degree bribery as a result of the investigation conducted by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. The other three charged were: John Cesaro, former Morris County freeholder, John Windish, former Mount Arlington council member, and Mary Dougherty, a former Morris County freeholder candidate.

Cesaro and Windish were also charged with second-degree acceptance or receipt of unlawful benefit by a public servant for official behavior because they held public office at the time of the alleged conduct, Grewal said.

"This is old-school political corruption at its worst — the kind that undermines the political process and erodes public faith in government. We are working through the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability to create a culture of accountability in New Jersey, where public officials know they must act with integrity or else face the consequences.”

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com