Former Jersey City Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas received 13 months probation last week in a bribery case brought forth by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office on December 19th, 2019.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
“The state abandoned the most serious charges of the indictment, which left him to plead guilty to a charge that did not require jail time. The judge also felt that since the state took six-and-a-half years to get to this point, that was a sentence in it of itself given the personal and financial hardships,” Jeffrey Garrigan, Thomas’ attorney in the case, told HCV.
“I also want to point out that so far, no defendants have gone to jail in this case. Sudhan thought he was speaking to his attorney, which he was, but he was also talking to a cooperating witness for the state, which brings a lot of questions related to consensual intercept. Additionally, there were questions as to whether they had enough evidence to meet the burden to record him in the first place.”
Somerset County Superior Court Judge Peter J. Tober delivered the sentencing one week ago, which also included $10,000 restitution/forfeiture and a $30,000 fine. The AG’s Office declined to comment.
They had sought a five-year state prison sentence after Thomas had pleaded guilty, as they announced last month, but Tober decided to go in a different direction in this case.
Thomas, who was accused of taking a $30,000 bribe, to be used for a potential city council run, from Matt O’Donnell between May and July 2019 in exchange for making him special counsel for the Jersey City BOE when he was still serving as president.
Back in June 2024, Thomas received a two-month prison sentence for embezzling more than $45,000 from the now defunct Jersey City Employment and Training Program when he served as their acting executive director, as HCV first reported.
Former Bayonne Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell is also accused of taking cash bribes from Matt O’Donnell – no relation – and the case is still pending on appeal. Three other elected officials and/or candidates from Morris County were also charged in the sting.
