Former Hoboken Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia won’t be sentenced until 2026 after pleading guilty to bribery last year, the court docket for his case shows.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Although he was going to be sentenced in front of U.S. District Court Judge Madeline Cox Arleo in Newark on October 7th, which was already nearly a six month delay, the date has now been moved to January 8th, 2026 at 11 a.m.
A September 3rd court filing shows that U.S. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, Acting U.S. Attorney/Special Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori will be appearing for the government in the case.
No additional information related to the case was available on the public court system.
In June 2024, Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the city of Newark and the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation of Garcia’s honest services, honest services wire fraud, and receiving bribes in connection with the business of a federally funded local government and organization, as HCV first reported.
Garcia, who was backed by the Hudson County Democratic Organization (HCDO) before he won his one and only term in the state Assembly in 2013, received 20 continuances in the case without much explanation.
From 2017 through April 2019, both while serving as Newark deputy mayor and as an executive officer of the NCEDC (now known as Invest Newark), Garcia sought and received significant cash and other gifts from Frank Valvano Jr., Irwin Sablosky – the former board of education president in Springfield, according to federal prosecutors.
Those two and others bribed Garcia to use his official positions and influence within the city of Newark and the NCEDC to advance real estate development matters of interest to Valvano and Sablosky.
Garcia, also a former Newark deputy mayor, as well as a housing authority executive director in Hoboken and Irvington, was first charged via complaint back in November 2020.
Mister Carmelo is the Prince of Hoboken, because he’s got tapes. Well, he said that for a long time and he’s alleged to have a big library. He didn’t get Stack. So, who did he get? Something is rotten in Denmark.
Ras obviously
Anyone have any update on this case? I thought the sentencing was this week John?