TRENTON, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — South Jersey power broker George Norcross appeared in Superior Court on Wednesday along with several other defendants as their attorneys asked a judge to dismiss the corruption cases against them.
Norcross was indicted on racketeering charges in July over allegations he led a group, including former Camden Mayor Dana Redd, that directed projects and jobs in the Camden Waterfront to friends.
New Jersey Assistant Attorney General Michael Grillo says the indictment outlines what prosecutors call the Norcross enterprise. Over more than 100 pages, he says the case shows a mountain of evidence that proves the group conspired to push another developer, Carl Dranoff, out of Camden.
“The grand jurors found that George Norcross and his co-conspirators, including Mayor Dana Redd, were not simply influential people, but rather people that controlled Camden government, and who used that control to threaten their victims,” Grillo argued.
“I started by saying the whole indictment rests on extortion,” said Norcross attorney Yaakov Roth.
Roth argued the state did not, at any point, actually make the case that any crimes happened because the conduct it described is simply how tough business negotiations work everywhere.
“Respectfully, I don’t think any of these is a close call. Nothing like this has ever been treated as a crime,” said Roth, who added that it’s a first amendment right to ask the government to do things for you, no matter how good or bad those things might be.
“Only the government can take government action and the only way private citizens can influence it is by trying to influence it.”
Defense attorneys argued that even if the facts of the indictment are assumed to be true, they say none of the actions or discussions are a crime. Grillo said it’s important to keep in context the totality of the enterprise, which he says conspires to enrich itself.
The hearing went late and the judge has a lot to review, so it’s unclear when he will rule on the motion to dismiss.