JERSEY CITY, N.J. (1010 WINS) -- The president of a New Jersey school board faces political corruption charges Thursday, along with four other former officials and candidates.
New Jersey Attorney General Gurbir Grewal announced in a statement that Jersey City School Board President Sudhan Thomas took thousands of dollars in bribes from a cooperating witness from May to July.
Messages seeking a response to the charges were left with Thomas' and three of the defendants' lawyers. It's unclear who is representing the fifth defendant.
According to Grewal's statement the defendants took tens of thousands in bribes offered in envelopes, paper bags and even a coffee cup stuffed with cash.
The five defendants are charged bribes from a cooperating witness in the form of campaign contributions, according to the attorney general.
In return, they allegedly promised the cooperating witness, a tax attorney, that they would vote or use their authority or influence to hire his law firm for lucrative government legal work, Grewal said.
At the time of his conduct, Thomas was also preparing to run for Jersey City Councilman in 2021. He is charged with accepting $35,000 in cash bribes, $10,000 delivered on one date and $25,000 delivered on a second date, according to prosecutors.
The other defendants are Jason O'Donnell, a former state Assemblyman and one-time Bayonne mayoral candidate; John Cesaro, a Morris County freeholder; John Windish, a former Mount Arlington council member; and Mary Dougherty a one-time candidate for Morris County freeholder.
Former State Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell, who in 2018 unsuccessfully ran for Mayor of Bayonne, is charged with accepting a $10,000 bribe.
O’Donnell allegedly solicited and accepted $10,000 in "street money" for his mayoral campaign from the cooperating witness and allegedly agreed to provide the cooperating witness with tax work from the City of Bayonne if elected mayor.
O’Donnell also failed to file required campaign reports with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) disclosing the $10,000 contribution.
Former Morris County Freeholder John Cesaro was also charged for soliciting contributions from the cooperating witness for his 2021 campaign for Mayor of Parsippany-Troy Hills.
Accordind to prosecutors, Cesaro accepted bribes from the cooperating witness, promising to secure more tax work from Morris County for the cooperating witness and make him tax counsel for Parsippany-Troy Hills if elected.
Cesaro allegedly accepted an envelope containing $10,000 in cash and $2,350 in checks from the cooperating witness, but later returned the cash, asking the cooperating witness to replace it with checks.
The two also allegedly discussed using "straw donors," which New Jersey election law, says is illegal.
At a later fundraiser, Cesaro accepted two checks for $2,600 each, which is the individual limit for contributions per election per candidate which allegedly took place between April and May 2018.
Former Mount Arlington Councilman John Windish is accused accepting a $7,000 cash bribe, from the cooperating witness for his unsuccessful bid for re-election to borough council in June 2018, prosecutors allege.
Windish allegedly promised that he would support the reappointment of the cooperating witness as borough attorney in return.
Officials say Windish accepted an envelope containing $7,000 in cash from the cooperating witness in May 2018.
Morristown real estate agent Mary Dougherty, allegedly accepted a bribe of $10,000 from the cooperating witness.
Prosecutors say the sum was initially delivered as cash but later converted to checks from "straw donors" for her unsuccessful campaign for Morris County Freeholder in 2018.
In return, she is accused of promising to support the reappointment of the cooperating witness as counsel for Morris County.
During a meeting at a restaurant, Dougherty allegedly accepted $10,000 cash in $100 denominations that the cooperating witness delivered in a take-out coffee cup, prosecutors say.
Dougherty later asked the cooperating witness to replace the cash with four checks, each within the $2,600 individual contribution limit.
The cooperating witness told Dougherty he would use the returned $10,000 in cash to pay four individuals to write checks.
Dougherty met with the witness again in August and October 2018 and accepted four checks, each in the amount of $2,500 payable to "Mary for Morris Freeholder."