Upon exiting the courthouse, Bencivengo declined to comment about the verdict but told reporters gathered outside, "I am going to miss you all." He will remain free on bail until his sentencing Feb. 27. Watch video
TRENTON — Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo was found guilty on five counts of extortion and related offenses yesterday, and subsequently announced through the township’s business administrator that he would officially resign his post this afternoon.
A federal jury deliberated less than 4½ hours yesterday before reaching a decision, and Bencivengo sat without expression as the verdict was read. As he left the courtroom he was embraced by Deanna Nelson, a longtime friend who testified on his behalf during the trial.
Upon exiting the courthouse, Bencivengo declined to comment about the verdict but told reporters gathered outside, “I am going to miss you all.” He will remain free on bail until his sentencing Feb. 27. The convictions for extortion, attempted extortion and money laundering each carry a maximum 20-year prison sentence and a fine of $250,000.
Bencivengo also faces five-year sentences for each conviction for violating the Federal Travel Act.
The mayor was found guilty of receiving $12,400 in bribes from a school district insurance broker to help her retain her contracts and the lucrative commissions that came with them. Revelations and allegations during the trial also have brought downfall and scandal to numerous officials in both Hamilton and Robbinsville.
In exchange for the money, Bencivengo had promised to prevent school board members from putting the insurance contract out to bid or taking it away from the broker, Marliese Ljuba, and her company, Allen Associates of Vineland.
U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman called the verdict a reminder to public officials that their office and the public trust are not for sale.
“Mayor Bencivengo betrayed the people of Hamilton Township and all of the honest public servants in New Jersey who take their oaths and responsibilities seriously,” Fishman said.
Bencivengo, who for months had proclaimed his innocence, has served nearly five years as mayor of Hamilton and had three more years to go in his second term.
His attorney, who had asserted that the government’s star witness in the case, Ljuba, was a liar, also had little to say following the verdict.
“I think the jury said it all,” said the attorney, Jerome Ballarotto. He declined to say whether his client will appeal the decision.
Ljuba began cooperating with the FBI in 2011 to form the case against Bencivengo, who took the bribes in that year. The broker’s business relationship with the school board goes back at least seven years, and she and her company were making commissions of nearly $1 million per year.
Ljuba admitted to bribing several township officials over the years, saying that she gave bribes — including cash, vacations, dinners, illegal campaign contributions and drug money — to officials in Hamilton and Robbinsville.
The testimony has sparked outrage among residents and officials in those towns. As a result Robbinsville business administrator Joy Tozzi and Hamilton school district business administrator Joseph Tramontana have been placed on administrative leave.
Hamilton director of recreation Cathy Tramontana was fired after Ljuba’s testimony.
Robert Warney, a close friend of Bencivengo’s and co-conspirator in the bribery scam, has pleaded guilty to money laundering and accepting bribes from Ljuba in 2006 and 2007.
The arguments during the trial hinged on the testimony of Ljuba, who made three separate bribe payments to the financially struggling Bencivengo. Ballarotto told the jury that Bencivengo took the money not as a bribe but as a loan, because he owed thousands of dollars to the Internal Revenue Service in back taxes, was paying for a divorce from his wife, Donna, and paying the mortgage on the house they owned together as well as rent on the apartment where he was living.
The first $5,000 payment Ljuba made to Bencivengo on May 12, 2011, was through a check funneled through Warney, a former school board member who was then serving as the township’s director of community planning and compliance. Warney pleaded guilty in June and is awaiting sentencing, which is scheduled for Jan. 7.
The second and third payments that Ljuba made to Bencivengo were in cash.
By the time Ljuba made the second payment of $2,400 to Bencivengo on July 21, 2011, she had already been approached by the FBI and was integral in them building a case against Bencivengo. That payment was made in cash, which Ljuba delivered to Bencivengo’s Hamilton apartment. A secret video Ljuba made of the transaction was shown in court and the jury saw Ljuba hand Bencivengo the bills, which he did not know were provided by the FBI, and count them before thanking her.
The final $5,000 was made in cash while the two were in Atlantic City for a weekend. Audio recordings made by Ljuba for the FBI show that Bencivengo thought that a weekend at the casinos would be a perfect way for him to hide the transaction — telling his friends and others that he had won the money after getting lucky at the roulette table.
Bencivengo also was found guilty of money laundering, for attempting to conceal the payments, and two counts of violating the travel act for causing Ljuba to travel from Delaware, where she lived, to New Jersey to engage in illegal activity.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Harvey Bartle and Dustin Chao, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the federal government, argued there was no doubt that Bencivengo understood the money Ljuba was giving him, directly or indirectly, was a bribe, because he tried to cover it all up, and the effort of concealment was a dead giveaway, they said.
Throughout the trial, which began last week, Bencivengo never took the stand in his own defense. While Bencivengo’s 92-year-old mother and his sister sat in for almost every day of the trial, they were not present in the courtroom to hear the jury’s verdict.
Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609)989-5717.
Complete coverage of the Bencivengo corruption case:
• Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo is guilty of taking $12,400 in bribes from insurance broker
• Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo corruption trial: attorneys deliver closing arguments
• Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo corruption trial: Prosecutor alleges 'government by bribe'
• Amick: 'Shocking' revelations of Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo trial show need for reform
• Hamilton school board business administrator is placed on administrative leave
• Editorial: Hamilton school board should dig deeper on contracts after bribery admission
• Former Hamilton official pleads guilty to money laundering in Mayor John Bencivengo extortion case
• Senator wants state constitution changed so indicted office-holders are suspended
• Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo pleads not guilty to extortion, money laundering charges
• Editorial: Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo must heed calls to resign over corruption indictment