Ex-Essex Sheriff's Officer Admits to Collecting Debt Through Extortion

A former Essex County Sheriff's Officer admitted Monday to conspiring to collecting a debt through extortion, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said in a release.

John Balsamo, 49, of West Long Branch, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden to an indictment charging him with using threats of violence and economic harm to collect a debt from the victim, an Ocean County construction contractor, the release states.

Balsamo and conspirators Robert C. Bantang, Jr., 44, of Oceanport, and Timothy Kelly, 37, of Jersey City, used extortion to collect $50,000 the contractor owed to Kelly from 2009, according to the release.

The U.S. Attorney's Office said the conspirators told the victim the money was owed to a member of organized crime known as the "Old Man" who would physically harm him if the debt was not paid. Balsamo also showed the victim a key to a Brick construction site where he was working and warned that the key could be used to gain access to, and cause damage to the site, according to the release.

Balsamo and Kelly sent Bantang to the construction site to deliver threats on behalf of the “Old Man,” according to the release.

On March 24, 2011, Balsamo and Kelly went to the Brick construction site, which was a completed restaurant at that point, to confront the victim, the U.S. Attorney's Office said in the release.  Kelly told him that if he had brought his "boys" that it would have gotten “done right in here, right in this place, right like this, in front of everybody ... and your wife gets it too.”

During the course of the conspiracy, Balsamo received a Rolex watch and $2,500 in cash from the victim towards payment of the debt, according to the release.

Kelly and Bantang previously pleaded guilty in February 2012 to conspiring to collect a debt from the victim using extortionate means, before U.S. District Judge Katharine S. Hayden, the release states. The two men are scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 10.

Balsamo faces a maximum potential penalty per count of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 8, 2013.