The 11th cop ensnared in a federal investigation into the Jersey City Police Department’s admitted to receiving $34,000 for no-show jobs, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Juan Barrios, 41, of Rahway, pleaded guilty to a conspiracy charge in front of U.S. District Judge John Michael Vazquez , admitting that he accepted $34,951 for off-duty work he did not perform.
As a result, Barrios will forfeit $50,000 and repay Jersey City in the aforementioned amount of money he received in corrupt payments, authorities said.
His sentencing is on April 16th and he could face a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Former Jersey City Police Chief Philip Zacche was the 10th Jersey City cop to admit getting paid for a no-show job, though he is the first to admit accept corrupt payments from a public entity instead of a private contractor.
Ex-North District “pick coordinator†Juan Romaniello was the first JCPD officer to plead guilty to accepting corrupt payments in September 2016.
Late last year, Mayor Steven Fulop said that he “would not be surprised if the [JCPD] off-duty jobs go away entirely in 2018†as a result of the ongoing probe by the FBI and U.S. attorney’s office.
Then, Fulop announced on Twitter this week that the city would be abolishing off-duty work for the police department, leading to some blow back from members of law enforcement and their supporters.
Couple points per responses: contract issues should be taken up w/union leadership as they’re your reps. Being in the JCPD is a great long term job + we have a huge waiting list to serve. I understand that some ppl are mad but this decision is what is best for JC + JCPD
— Steven Fulop (@StevenFulop) January 31, 2018
