By Jim Shea
(Reprinted from Amboy Beacon, Sept. 29, 2010)
NEWARK — The case of U.S. vs. Joseph Vas and Melvin Ramos, with U.S.
District Court Judge Susan Wigenton presiding, continued in Room 5C of the
King
Building and U.S. District Courthouse promptly at 12:30 p.m. early last
week.
Participating in the trial were Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Howe and
Jennifer Kramer and defense counsels Jerome Ballarotto, representing Ramos,
and
Alan Zegas and Edward Byrne, representing Vas.
Among those taking the witness-stand last week were former City Council
members Geri Bolanowski and Robert Sottilaro, attorney Robert Hynes, former
Housing Director Julia Keller, former Human Services Director Jeffrey
Gumbs,
Purchasing Agent Gary Muska, Assistant Personnel Director David Benyola,
former Business Administrator Donald Perlee, Federal Agent Jacqueline
Cristiano,
former Public Information Officer Shakira Johnson and Recreation Clerk
Cesar
Jovine.
Excerpts from their testimony follow.
After Kramer showed her the DeKalb Resolution, Bolanowski said, “I voted
for this Resolution.”
“If Ramos was at the meeting, or if anyone made any disclosure of Mayor
Vas’s ownership of the property, had you known about the ownership, would
you
have considered it important?” Kramer asked.
“I would have,” she replied.
“You did ultimately know that Vas had owned this property. What did it feel
like when you learned that Joseph Vas owned the property?”
“I was upset,” Bolanowski said.
“What were you told about the ownership?” Kramer asked Sottilaro.
“All I knew was that it was DeKalb LLC,” he said. “If I had known Vas had
owned the property, I think I would have voted against it.”
Sottilaro told Zegas, “It was only after the fact that I learned that Vas
owned the property.”
“I knew Vas, he was a client of mine, and he asked me to do the closing
regarding DeKalb,” Hynes told Kramer.
Under questioning by Kramer, Hynes went-over the process involved in the
closing on the property.
Keller, who retired in August 2007, was called by Kramer to explain how the
Resolution came-before the Council.
“I questioned, ‘How we can put on a Resolution when we don’t have a
schedule; how can you borrow from other RCAs (Regional Contribution
Agreements)?
“Gumbs said that it had to be paid immediately.,” she said. “I said, ‘We
can’t move without COAH (Council On Affordable Housing) approval;’
technically, we should have to get COAH’s approval.”
“To date, has COAH approved any money for DeKalb?” Kramer asked.
“No,” Keller replied.
“The first time you saw an application for the (DeKalb Avenue) project,
what was you opinion?” Zegas asked.
“It looked like it needed work,” Keller replied.
“At the time of the vote, did you know that Mr. Vas owned DeKalb?”
“No, I thought Harry Jones owned DeKalb.”
“Had you known if Mayor Vas had made a $ 300,000 profit by that sale, would
it have been significant to you?” Kramer asked.
“Yes,” Keller said.
“Where did you learn these things?” Zegas asked.
“In the newspaper,” Keller replied.
On Thursday, Gumbs was called as a witness.
After Kramer questioned Gumbs about his state prosecution, Zegas asked for
a sidebar. The Judge instructed the jury not to “draw any conclusions” regarding Vas
after hearing the charges against Gumbs.
When asked to identify Ramos, Gumbs said, “He was the Mayor’s Aide; he was
attached to the Mayor’s hip.” Bellarotto objected.
Gumbs said that he “had an unusual meeting with Councilman Frank Sinatra
and Harry Jones, as no Councilman in my six years was to meet with me.
Sinatra and Jones were to hold town meetings. Ten minutes later, I got a phone call
from (Mayor’s Confidential Secretary) Debbie Palmer. She said the Mayor
wanted to see me.
“I went upstairs, and the Mayor came out of his office,” Gumbs said. “Vas
said, ‘Take- care of Sinatra. He never asks me for anything.’”
Gumbs said that at Vas’s request, he drafted the Resolution for funding
for DeKalb Avenue, which the Council approved. “On Jan. 11, 2007, did anything unusual take place?” Kramer asked. “There was a purchase-order, but I didn’t recognize the signature on the
purchase order,” Gumbs said. “I wasn’t aware that Dave Benyola was made Business Administrator for a day.” Gumbs testified that he was unaware Vas was involved in the DeKalb project.
“At the time you were asked to make a purchase requisition, were any
disclosures made to you that Joseph Vas had just made a $300,000 profit?”
Kramer asked. “Would it have mattered if you knew the Mayor was the prior owner?”
“It would have mattered,” Gumbs replied.
"What do you believe would have happened if you hadn’t approved the purchase requisition?”
“I would incurred his wrath. I wouldn’t have a job.”
Referring to Jan. 11, 2008, Muska said, “I was in City Hall that day. I received a message from Mr. Perlee that said he would not be in; he was in-and-out.
“At 11:00, Mr. Benyola came in and asked if he could sign a purchase-order.
I said, ‘Unless you had the authorization, you couldn’t sign,’” he
continued. “After lunch, the Mayor walked-by, (and) I heard a slap on the
desk in Mr. Benyola’s office. “Mr. Benyola came-out shaken; Vas walked-out and slammed the desk; there
was virtually no talking for two weeks.”
As Byrne began cross-examination, Zegas started coughing.
“Mr. Sinatra came-up and asked if the purchase-order was signed,” Muska
said “Mr. Sinatra could have asked me on another occasion, but I do
remember that Monday.”
Kramer asked Benyola, Assistant Personnel Director between August 2003 and
August 2007, about contributing to “Vas For Congress.”
“I was sitting in my office on Feb. 2, 2006, and I was asked by Mr. (Vas
political advisor Raymond) Geneske, he took an envelope, cash was given to
me,
I was asked to contribute $2,000 with a check made out to ‘Vas For
Congress,’” Benyola said. “I got the cash for the amount.”
He said that Vas later asked him, “if I received the money.”
“Did you get the cash?”
“Yes.”
“Were you aware of the limit of $2,100?” Kramer asked.
“I made it out for $2,100,” Benyola replied.
“What did you do with the money?”
“I put it in my account.”
On Jan. 11, 2007, Benyola said he “was asked to sign a purchase-order.
“I said I wasn’t authorized to sign a purchase-order. I asked Gary if I
was allowed to sign, he said ‘No.’ I called Ms. (Chief Financial Officer
Jill) Goldy; she said, ‘Absolutely no.’ I contacted Perlee — he lived a
half a
block from City Hall — he said, ‘You shouldn’t sign it; it’s nothing that
couldn’t wait until Monday.’ I told Ms. (Executive Assistant Mildred)
Torres I couldn’t sign.
“Vas showed me a letter appointing me Business Administrator for the day,”
Benyola said. “I signed because I feared for my job. Vas said that ‘Muska
and Goldy don’t know what they are talking-about,’ and he slammed the
desk.”
The next day, Byrne cross-examined Benyola: “You knew that you were
breaking-the-law when you took cash from Mr. Geneske.”
“I knew it was the same rules for state and for federal campaigns,” he
responded.
“You knew that, under the law, when Mr. Vas said to you, ‘Did you get the
money?’, Mr. Vas knew that he, too, was committing a crime.”
“Did you know about the DeKalb project when you signed the
purchase-order?” Kramer asked.
“ I was forced-to” Benyola replied.
“I got a call from Ramos, who wanted me to make a contribution to the
campaign,” Perlee said. “Ramos was acting as Campaign Treasurer; Ramos
said he
would be giving me cash.”
“Did he tell you where the cash came-from?” Kramer asked.
“I gave Ramos the names of two in-laws,” Perlee said. “Ramos came into my
office with cash, $ 6,300 cash, because this was the maximum allowable
amount.”
“If you knew this was wrong, why did you do this?” Kramer asked.
“Up to this point, I was happy,” Perlee said. “I was out ill, and I knew
that the Mayor was unhappy. I gave the money I received to my in-laws.”
Recalling Jan. 11, 2007: “Due to medications, there were times I had to be
out. On Jan. 11, 2007, I was home sick in bed, I received a flurry of phone
calls.
“I learned that Gary had received a purchase-order with insufficient
documentation attached to it that was processed by Jeffrey Gumbs. I said it
would
have to wait until I got back. I told Muska not to prepare the
purchase-order.”
With the jury asked to leave the room, Zegas objected that “this is
hearsay;” the Judge noted the objection but overruled it, and she brought
the jury
back.
“Why did you order Benyola not to sign the purchase-order?” Kramer asked.
“I received a phone call saying the Mayor gave an order to sign the
check,” Perlee said. “I then received a call from Benyola’s wife; she said
that her husband feared losing his job.” “Did you call the Mayor any time that day?” Zegas asked.
“No, because the check had already been signed,” Perlee said.
“You ordered Benyola not to sign the check; is that within your
authority?” Zegas asked.
“I know of no provision in the City of Perth Amboy that would allow the
Mayor to make a temporary appointment,” Perlee declared.
“The fact is, you never called the city attorney to find out whether it was
legal for the Mayor to make this appointment,” Zegas stated.
“Did you discuss with the government that you didn’t tell the FBI about
your relatives’ gift?” Bellarotto asked.
“It was a lie by omission,” Perlee replied. “It was my intention not to
involve my in-laws.”
“You admit that you lied to the FBI, you lied to the grand jury, therefore
you lied under oath,” Ballarotto noted.
Cristiano, a federal agent assigned to Washington, DC, had been assisting
other agents in the Newark Division. On April 23, 2009, she was involved in
the execution of search-warrants at the High Street homes of both Ramos and
Vas. Kramer showed Cristiano items dealing with the Vas Congressional campaign
that she helped to remove from Ramos’s home, including reports of receipts
and disbursements signed by Ramos. There were documents indicating that
Johnson and Jovine were contributors to that campaign. Johnson said she was told by Ramos that “if I’d make-out a check for the campaign, I’ll get the cash back for the check.”
“Did Ramos give you the cash?” Kramer asked. “Yes, I deposited the money into my account,” Johnson replied. As Ballarotto approached the bench, Johnson started to cry loudly.
Ballarotto said, “There’s no reason to cry,” and she immediately stopped
crying. Kramer called Jovin to the witness-stand. “Did you give to the ‘Vas For Congress’ campaign?” Kramer asked. “Mr. Ramos asked me to contribute to the campaign. Ramos said that he’d
reimburse me, that he’d give me cash.” “Did you ask if it was okay?” “Ramos told me that it was okay. Ramos said, ‘Call your wife and have her bring the checkbook.’ I went downstairs and made-out two checks, one for me and one for her, for a total of $4,200 for ‘Vas For Congress,’ and Mr.
Ramos, in turn, gave me the cash.” “You don’t know that one of the checks didn’t clear?” Ballarotto asked.
“You said that you got $4,200, but one of the checks bounced.”
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