Two former Hudson County parks directors have been implicated in a bribery and kickback scheme that involved a vendor, U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Attorney Jordan Fox announced.
By John Heinis/Hudson County View
Former Hudson County Parks Department Director Thomas A. DeLeo and William A. Murray, the owner of Paramus-based Murray Paving & Concrete LLC, each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services fraud, Fox said in a statement.
DeLeo also admitted to conspiring to launder the proceeds of the scheme.
Additionally, Russell Fallacara, who succeeded DeLeo as the Hudson County Parks Department director, has been charged by complaint with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering for his role in the scheme.
On March 5th, DeLeo, 76, of Little Silver, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Claire C. Cecchi to a two-count Information charging him with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Then on March 17th, Murray, 56, of Jersey City, also pleaded guilty before Cecchi to an Information charging him with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud.
Finally on March 20th, Fallacara, 58, of Bayonne, made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge André M. Espinosa and was released on bond.
The indictments indicate that many others were involved, including Individual 1, Company 1, Consulting Group 1, and Vendor 1, which appears to be Murray’s company.
“Vendor-1 wrote the ‘February 2022 Check’ and the ‘April 2022 Check’ from Company-1 to Consulting Group-1. The February 2022 Check and the April 2022 Check were intended to disguise wad funnel kickbacks from Vendor-1 to DeLeo by making it appear that the payments were for services that Consulting Group-1 performed on behalf of Company-1,” DeLeo’s indictment says.
“Vendor-1 also obscured the nature of payments to DELEO by completing hundreds of thousands of dollars of renovations for DeLeo and/or his associates, for which DeLeo and/or his associates were not billed. In total, the value of bribes and kickbacks laundered was more than $550,000.”
The conspiracy, which operated from in or around 2019 through in or around 2024, involved more than $1.5 million in bribes and kickbacks, according to court documents.
Murray made the payments to DeLeo and Fallacara so that Murray’s company would be awarded contracts to work on various Hudson County Parks Department projects, including but not limited to landscape maintenance, paving, and general contracting projects.
The bribes and kickbacks often came in the form of cash payments to DeLeo and Fallacara.
In one instance, DeLeo received a bag containing between approximately $60,000 and $90,000 in cash.
In other instances, DeLeo received money that was transmitted through a consulting company specifically formed to receive bribes and kickbacks, in order to conceal the source and nature of the payments.
As alleged, Fallacara received over $400,000 in cash bribes and kickback payments. Other bribes and kickbacks came in the form of free home repairs and renovations for DeLeo, Fallacara, and their associates.
“On or about April 30, 2021, Murray exchanged text messages with Murray Paving employees in which Murray informed the employees that payment for certain vendors who were involved in the renovations to Co-Conspirator-1’s home had to be delivered to Co-Conspirator-1, When an employee stated, ‘money is of no issue with this,’ Murray responded, ‘You’re right I’ll get more envelopes [cash] from the county,'” Murray’s indictment alleges.
During their respective tenures as Parks Department director, DeLeo and Fallacara took official action in exchange for bribes and kickbacks to ensure that Hudson County awarded various contracts to Murray’s company, which, over the course of the conspiracy, performed over $5 million of work for Hudson County.
Both the conspiracy to commit honest services fraud charge and the conspiracy to commit money laundering charge carry a maximum penalty of 20 years’ imprisonment.
“On occasion, Individual-1 and Fallacara took steps to conceal the corrupt nature of these financial transactions. For example, in or around January 2023, Individual-1 provided an associate of Fallacara’s with a check for $300,000, issued from Company-1’s bank account,” Fallacara’s indictment states.
“The associate then provided Individual-1 with $300,000 in cash, which Individual-1 then gave to Fallacara. This $300,000 payment was given to Fallacara in exchange for Fallacara having taken official action with regard to approving contracts awarded to Company-1 by Hudson County.”
The indictment also claims that Individual 1 provided free repairs and renovations on his pool, basement, and backyard for his continued help regarding Company 1.
Hudson County said that Fallacara resigned for “personal reasons” in late January 2024, with Denise D’Alessandro serving as the acting director while remaining the head of the Department of Roads and Public Property, as only HCV reported.
Fallacara was one of 16 arrested in an FBI sting in August 2005, with then-U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s office alleging that Fallacara was “was an associate of the Genovese Crime Family and part of the crew headed by Joseph Scarbrough.”
Then an inspector for the now defunct Jersey City Incinerator Authority, Fallacara was accused of being “involved in the sports bookmaking operation, football ticket operation, and the collection of unlawful debt.”
He pleaded guilty to one count of racketeering conspiracy and was sentenced to 27 months in prison by U.S. District Court Judge William J. Martini in August 2006, public records show.
Fox credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Field Office, special agents with the U.S. Department of Labor, the Office of Inspector General Northeast Region, with the investigation leading to the prior convictions and today’s charges.
“I am disgusted by the actions of these former Hudson County officials that occurred before I took office. Throughout my tenure as Hudson County executive, I have been committed to transparency and ensuring the public’s trust in their government, which included bringing in new Parks Department leadership soon after I entered office,” Hudson County Executive Craig Guy told HCV.
“All county contracts and procurement processes and regulations are thoroughly complied with and reviewed by our Law Department. Let me be clear – corruption is not tolerated on my watch and I applaud federal law enforcement’s efforts to hold these former officials accountable. We work for the people and I will continue to serve Hudson County with honesty and integrity.”
Editor’s note: This story was updated with a comment from Hudson County Executive Craig Guy.
Nothing changes. Same boat..different rats!
This is why our taxes are so high, the parks “improvements” always break after a few months, and the democratic socialists get elected because they are the reformers. corruption is expensive.
Do Ravi next!
As long as Democrats block a US Attorney from being appointed by the WH in Newark, Ravi and many other criminal rats remain safe.