N.J. Man Facing Bribe Charge Is Found Dead/corruption sweep

[HiyaEmerald Eyes]

Source: NYT

N.J. Man Facing Bribe Charge Is Found Dead


By DAVID M. HALBFINGER
Published: July 28, 2009


A veteran New Jersey political consultant who was among dozens arrested in a huge corruption sweep last week was found dead in his Jersey City apartment on Tuesday, the same day that one of three mayors charged in the case resigned.


The circumstances surrounding the death of the consultant, Jack M. Shaw, are “suspicious,” said Edward J. DeFazio, the Hudson County prosecutor. He said it did not appear to be a homicide. “It could be natural, it could be accidental, it could be suicide,” he said, refusing to elaborate. An autopsy is set for Wednesday.

His death, reported by a companion to the authorities at 5:17 p.m., came hours after Dennis Elwell, the mayor of Secaucus, stepped down, becoming the first elected official to quit after being charged in the sprawling political corruption case.

Mr. Shaw, 61, once an adviser to some of New Jersey’s most influential Democrats, more recently worked mainly for developers doing business in Hudson County. A top client was Metrovest Equities, developer of the Beacon, a 10-building apartment complex on the site of the former Jersey City Medical Center.

But that type of work appears to have led him into the cross hairs of federal prosecutors.

He was charged on Thursday with accepting $10,000 cash from Solomon Dwek, the federal informant at the center of the corruption scandal, who was posing as a real estate developer seeking political help for his projects.

Prosecutors said Mr. Shaw proposed that Mr. Dwek make $10,000 in donations to the re-election campaign of the Jersey City mayor, Jerramiah T. Healy, in exchange for approvals.



...



Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/29/nyregion/29jersey.html?_r=1&th&emc=th

[valerief]

1. Dead men tell no lies. nt

[WriteDown]

2. I'm sure he just committed suicide by....

shooting himself twice in the head.

[GreenPartyVoter]

3. That's the popular method in the political world.

[HiyaEmerald Eyes]

4. Right after he put his cement shoes on

;)

[Xipe Totec]

5. He's just exercising his right to remain silent n/t

[Joanie Baloney]

6. Looks like it may have been an overdose of pills

A player in the corruption scandal that rocked New Jersey last week has been found dead.

Jack M. Shaw, 61, a Hudson County political consultant who was among 44 people arrested last week in the wide-ranging probe into political corruption and money laundering, was found dead this afternoon. The only question is the cause of death. Homicide has been ruled out, according to law enforcement officials.

Sources said Shaw was found with a bottle of pills next to his body at his Jersey City home. However it is not clear yet if he suffered a heart attack or may have committed suicide.

Hudson County Prosecutor Ed DeFazio confirmed that "no weapon was found" in his home.


http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local-beat/Key-Player-in-Jersey-Corruption-Probe-Found-Dead.html

-JB

[closeupready]

7. How different is this type of crime from what many Congress people do?

??

[Joanie Baloney]

8. and here's his photo

-JB

[Ian David]

9. Great. If it's a pill overdose, then they can't donate his kidneys, can they? n/t