No Vas, Ramos Defense

By Jim Shea

(Reprinted from Oct. 6, 2010 Amboy Beacon) NEWARK — Defense counsels Alan Zegas and Edward Byrne, representing former Perth Amboy Mayor Joseph Vas, and Jerome Ballarotto, representing Mayor’s Aide Melvin Ramos, did not offer any rebuttal after U.S. Attorneys Brian Howe and Jennifer Kramer rested the government’s case.

U.S. vs. Joseph Vas and Melvin Ramos, with U.S. District Court Judge Susan Wigenton presiding, was scheduled to continue with closing arguments early this week in Room 5C of the King Building and U.S. District Courthouse after the jury was dismissed last Tuesday afternoon.

Among those taking the witness-stand last week were former Purchasing Agent Ronald Mascenik, Vas political advisor Raymond Geneske, FBI Special Agent Edward Quinn and Federal Election Commission (FEC) General Counsel Mark Shonkwiler.

Excerpts from the testimony follow.

“Are you aware that Vas ran for Congress? You gave him money,” Kramer began questioning Mascenik.

“I ran into Ray Geneske; he was active in the Vas campaign, and I knew him for four or five years. I said I could give $500, but I’ll have to check.

Geneske said, ‘I’ll give you the money, no problem.’”

Mascenik acknowledged a check Kramer showed him dated May 17, 2006 for $1,500, with his signature.

“Mr. Geneske approached me a few days later and gave me cash, and I then gave him a check. I made out a check for $2,100 on June 1, 2006, another check for the Vas for Congress campaign. There were additional checks for me and my wife.”

Howe asked Geneske, “Have you ever been convicted?”

“I pleaded guilty for giving to a federal campaign in the name of others, in 2009.”

“What campaign?”

“Vas 2006 campaign.”

“Who gave you cash?”

“Eduardo Trujillo.”

“Other than Eduardo Trujillo and the straw-donors, who else was involved?”

Howe asked.

“Vas,” Geneske replied.

“Did you agree to work with federal authorities?”

“I agreed to plead to money-laundering third-degree, and my obligation is to tell the truth.”

“What was the sentence?”

“Three years probation, plus money to be paid.”

Geneske said he told Vas, who decided to run against former Assembly Speaker Albio Sires for Congress, that “just to be competitive,” he must spend

“$2 million.”

“Were you aware that New Jersey placed limits on contributions?”

“Yes. Eddie Trujillo gave me $5,000 cash at my home. I distributed it to the straw-donors. I give them cash; they give me a check. I gave the checks to the (Campaign) Treasurer, Mel Ramos.”

Howe showed Geneske several exhibits of checks made-out to “Vas for Congress,” and the witness identified them. One was a check for $1,000 from Raymond Geneske.

“I reimbursed myself,” he said.

Geneske said that later, “I got $25,000 from Edddie Trujillo at my home, in an envelope,” and he handled it the same way.

“I told Vas the very-next day that Eddie had come-through with a contribution. He was happy to receive it. The campaign needed money desperately. The polls showed the Mayor was ahead, the campaign was tightening, and we agreed to use the straw-donor method.

“At any time, did Vas tell you to return the money?”

“Vas said ‘no.’”

Howe showed more checks to Geneske.

“I gave them to the Treasurer: At the headquarters, I had $5,000 left, and the Mayor suggested that I use the remaining money to get out the vote. The Mayor was very-interested.”

Turning to the DeKalb Avenue property, Howe asked Geneske if he were “aware of” it.

“Through (former Chief Housing Inspector) Carlos Serrano, I learned that the Mayor owned the property,” he replied. “I went to the Mayor’s Office because there were aspects of this that bothered me.

“I asked him, ‘What the f--- are you doing?’ This happened around the time of the Council vote. I said, ‘This might be unethical.’ Vas was adamant; he said everything was above-board.”

“Who dealt with RCA (Regional Contribution Agreement) funds?” Howe asked.

“The Mayor,” Geneske replied.

“Vas made a promise. In the fall of 2005, he promised $3.5 million dollars in RCA funds to Eddie Trujillo. Vas said he’d do everything he could to get Eddie Trujillo the $3.5 million for the King Plaza project.”

“Did Mr. Trujillo, in fact, express reservations about the Kings Plaza Project?” Zegas asked. “Didn’t Trujillo, in fact, get no funds?”

“Yes,” Geneske replied.

Turning to DeKalb Avenue, Zegas asked why Geneske thought “Vas’s prior ownership was political dynamite.”

“He was my friend. From the outside, it looked like it needed repairs.”

“How did you knew the Mayor once owned the property?”

“Carlos Serrano, around June 13 or 14, told me that Vas owned the property. I told the Mayor this was immoral, illegal and unethical.”

After prodding by Zegas, Geneske said, “I have no doubt Vas’s comment was that it was all legal.”

“Were you aware if Mr. (former Councilman Frank) Sinatra had an interest with the new owners?”

“No.”

“Were your comments on the City Council coming from having read the newspapers, and nothing of your personal knowledge?”

“Yes, from the newspapers.”

“Trujillo did not get the $3.5 million; do you know why?” Howe asked Geneske.

“A transfer was going-on within COAH (state Council On Affordable Housing).”

“COAH was in-suspension?”

“Yes.”

Called by Kramer, Quinn said that after obtaining a search-warrant, he and another FBI agent went to Vas’s High Street residence “shortly after 7 a.m.” on Dec. 4, 2008, knocked on the door, and Vas came down for a two-hour interview.

“He was not arrested, it was voluntary, he was pleasant, he was willing to talk about DeKalb, he was aware that DeKalb was part of a criminal investigation,” Quinn said. “Vas said his intentions were as an investment property, and he planned on holding-onto the property.

“Vas said he may have had a brief discussion with (purchaser Evangelos) Samouhos, but “said he didn’t have any conversations with him regarding RCA funds.

“Vas said he gave no assurances; this came up as a Resolution for the Council in the normal manner,” Quinn said. “Vas said he had no involvement. He said that he was aware of a $90,000 disbursement, but only became aware of it recently.”

Quinn said Vas told him that he “was not aware of any confrontation”

regarding his appointment (of former Assistant Personnel Director David Benyola as Acting Business Administrator for a day), and “didn’t recall having said, ‘(Chief Financial Officer Jill) Goldy and (former Business Administrator

Donald) Perlee don’t know what they’re talking-about.’”

Vas also told him that “he had no conversation with (former Human Services Director Jeffrey) Gumbs” about it, Quinn said.

Kramer showed Quinn exhibits of bank deposits for “Vas for Congress” from the DeKalb property sale.

On cross-examination, Zegas questioned the propriety of a 7 a.m. visit, if “everything” was included in his report, and if Vas was “read his rights.”

“We didn’t include in the report that Mr. Vas appeared at the door with a towel,” Quinn said.

“Although Mr. Vas was a target, you didn’t read him his rights.”

“He was not being arrested, so we wouldn’t read him his rights.”

Last Tuesday, Kramer asked Shonkwiler about a Campaign Treasurer’s responsibilities.

“The Treasurer takes-on a responsibility: the Treasurer monitors what’s going on; he must file forms,” Shonkwiler said. There’ll be a schedule of disbursements, and the Treasurer has the sole statutory responsibility.”

Shonkwiler said that since 2002, the limit on campaign contributions has been $2,100 for the primary election and $2,100 for the general election, per candidate, per election.

The prosecution rested its case, and Zegas and Ballarotto both moved for dismissal, which the Judge rejected.

“We will not be calling any witnesses,” Zegas and Ballarotto stated. Both Vas and Ramos agreed that they would not testify on their own behalf.

“The defense will call no witnesses,” Wigenton announced. “The jury is free to go. You’re going to return on Monday, and you’ll get instructions on the law. You will not have access to your cellphones.”

From The Editor’s Desk

(Editorial, Reprinted from Oct. 6, 2010 Amboy Beacon) At a Special Meeting held early last week to adopt an amendment to the Calendar Year 2010 Budget and the Budget itself, the three South Amboy City Council members in-attendance — the barest number for a quorum — refused to take any action on the spending plan.

Councilmen Donald Applegate and Joseph Connors — both of whom are running in the Nov. 2 election — were absent. Why weren’t they present at a Special Meeting they had voted to hold? Also absent were City Law Director John Lanza and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Terance O’Neill.

The Council members who attended went into a closed-door executive session and emerged 23 minutes later with Mayor John O’Leary.

“I feel personally that I cannot vote to adopt this Budget because it’s not fair to the taxpayers of South Amboy,” Councilman Mark Noble declared.

“I concur,” Councilman William Schwarick stated. “There’s a decision on additional revenue coming from the state. We had a deal with a developer who agreed to purchase Amboy Aggregates for $800,000, but at 4 p.m., the rug was pulled-out from under us.”

Mayor O’Leary interjected to correct Councilman Schwarick’s statement.

“O’Neill Properties, the contract-purchaser for Amboy Aggregates, also had signed a contract to purchase one acre next to it known as ‘the restaurant site,’” the Mayor said. “At 1 p.m., we had an agreement from DCA (state Department of Community Affairs) Commissioner Thomas Neff, but at 4 p.m., this anticipated revenue source was not accepted.”

“Obviously, we have no vote for the Budget tonight,” Council President Fred Henry, the Democratic nominee for Mayor, said. “”We had a deal already-made, everything was set, and then apparently an anonymous call was made that this was not a real LLC (Limited Liability Company).

“We’re fighting a tax-increase, and for whatever reason, it’s not coming-about,” he continued. “We’re talking only about one acre of land where the (South Amboy) Boat Club was. A deal was made, but at 4 p.m., we received a call that the deal was off.”

The Council’s inaction subjected the three members in-attendance to the possible assessment of individual $25-a-day fines against them by DCA.

Mayor O’Leary went-on to castigate DCA officials for not accepting what he referred-to, interchangably, as “O’Neill Companies,” “O’Neill Properties”

and “The O’Neill Group,” a Pennsylvania-based redevelopment firm specializing in contaminated properties and the redeveloper of the former NL Industries site in neighboring Sayreville, whom he said is the contract-purchaser of Amboy Aggregates.

The Mayor continued attacking state officials for creating the 11th-hour circumstances the Council found itself in because of state-aid cutbacks and stringent rules on anticipating revenues, never explaining why local officials were so-late with the CY 2010 Budget, which was amended to increase local taxes by another $722,576, for a total $268 tax-hike on the average home.

Without knowing it, Council President Henry might have made the most-profound statement: “Normally, DCA doesn’t let you anticipate funds.”

A source familiar with municipal budgeting told us that DCA will allow municipalities to anticipate revenue from developers “only if there’s signed contracts.”

We’ve obtained a copy of a two-page Agreement signed by Redevelopment Agency Executive Director Eric Chubenko and Richard Heany, President of Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP, providing for the payment of $800,000 to the City of South Amboy by Dec. 15 for the one-acre parcel as part of a $3.8 million property purchase.

However, an “escape-clause” in the contract allows the entity to withdraw from the Agreement “at it’s (sic) discretion,” and to “compel” the Agency

to sell the property and return “the deposit.”

A Business Entity Status Report provided by the N.J. State Business Gateway Service says that Amboy Waterfront Acquisition Associates LP is a “foreign

(Delaware) Limited Partnership” (not an LLC), which filed on Sept. 27, the same day as the Special Meeting!

Under those circumstances, is there any wonder why DCA didn’t let South Amboy anticipate those funds?