Over 5 years after Bid Rig arrest, ex-Hoboken Mayor Cammarano disbarred

Over four years after pleading guilty to accepting $25,000 in bribes from an FBI informant posing as a corrupt developer in a major part of Operation Bid Rig III, former Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, an attorney, has now been disbarred by the New Jersey Supreme Court. 

By John Heinis/Hudson County View

NJ.com’s Ted Sherman, who co-wrote the best-selling book “The Jersey Sting” – a book that chronicled the events of Operation Bid Rig III, first reported the court ruling earlier this afternoon.

“Any discipline short of disbarment will not keep faith with the court’s charge to insure that the public will have confidence in members of the bar and in those attorneys who are privileged to serve as public officials,” said the court in an opinion by Justice Barry Albin, and joined by the rest of the court, according to court documents first made public by Hobokenhorse.com. 

Cammarano’s attorney in the matter, Joseph Hayden, Jr., felt that a suspension would’ve been an appropriate punishment for his client and still believes he “will ultimately make a positive contribution to society,” according to NJ.com.

After beating then-Councilwoman Dawn Zimmer in a run-off election in June 2009, Cammarano left office in disgrace after he was indicted on bribery charges a mere 23 days after taking over the mayor’s seat in the Mile Square City.

Cammarano, along with other campaign operatives, met with the now infamous FBI informant Solomon Dwek at 14th Street’s Malibu Diner on four separate occasions between May and July 2009, where both parties illegally solicited cash from one another.

Dwek was told that he and Cammarano would “be friends for a good, long time” at their June 23, 2009 meeting, court documents show.

Once viewed as a top Democratic candidate for statewide office, Cammarano ended up being just one of 44 individuals – many of which who were elected officials in New Jersey – arrested by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Operation Big Rig III on July 23, 2009.

Cammarano, a 2002 graduate of the Seton Hall University School of Law, did not have any previous sanctions against him and worked at East Coast powerhouse Genova Burns – a law firm with offices in Newark, Jersey City and New York City – prior to his arrest.