Court: Former Ruiz Campaign Worker Must go to Jail

 A city man who worked on the 2007 election campaign of state Sen. Teresa Ruiz (D-Newark) must serve jail time for election fraud, a state appeals court ruled Friday.

Angel Colon, 50, pleaded guilty in 2011 to submitting phony “messenger” ballots on behalf of voters who had never received them. The ballots were generally used by voters who were homebound due to illness.

In at least one instance, state investigators found that a voter was turned away from the polls in 2007 due to a fraudulent messenger ballot.

In January 2012, Colon was sentenced to five years’ probation despite the state’s request for three years of jail time.  The office of state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa immediately appealed the sentence. 

On May 10, judges Joseph Yannotti and Richard S. Hoffman found in favor of the state, ruling that the original sentence of probation amounted to a “clear abuse of discretion.” Hoffman and Yannotti ordered the matter back to trial court for resentencing. 

“This is an important ruling because it reaffirms the serious nature of the crime committed by this defendant,” said Chiesa. “We need to send a strong message that we will not tolerate any attempt to tamper with the election process in New Jersey and violate the right of our citizens to cast their votes in fair elections.”

Colon was one of eight Ruiz campaign workers charged with election law violations. Four other defendants also pleaded guilty, while another three -- including Ruiz’s husband, former Essex County Freeholder Samuel Gonzalez -- entered pre-trial intervention programs and were forced to surrender their government jobs.