US Attny Charges JC Council Candidate with Mail Fraud

Here's an interesting development in the F.B.I.'s current foray into Hudson County corruption.   

Former Jersey City Council candidate Lori Serrano was just hit with a second superseding indictment that charges her with mail fraud. 'Superseding' means on TOP of charges she was facing from the F.B.I.'s 2009 Bid Rig 3 arrest that scooped up Hoboken Mayor Peter Camaranno.

The indictment alleges Serrano's campaign sent 'intentionally-inaccurate' ELEC reports by mail to NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission with Serrano's knowledge.

That should send chills down a few Hoboken spines. For a couple of reasons.

It signals the seriousness and depth of the ongoing Bid Rig investigation, that the F.B.I. has circled back in 2011 to someone indicted in 2009  (for accepting a Dwek's illegal campaign contributions)  to charge them now for a fraudulent election report submitted in 2009.  Likewise, the choice to prosecute this under the federal statute for mail fraud- a serious offense carrying stiff penalties.

Mail fraud is a federal crime. Under Title 18 of the United States Code Section 1341, anyone who schemes to defraud another in almost any manner through the use of the Postal Service, is guilty of committing mail fraud, and can face a sentence of up to 20 years in prison.


The crime of mail fraud is a serious one, but it is also a very broad crime. Any crime which in some way utilizes the Postal Service may come within the law, and can suddenly become both a state and federal crime.

The Serrano mail fraud indictment sends a message loud and clear: that this US District Attorney, Paul Fishman, and NJ's Attorney General are intent on prosecuting election fraud in Hudson County.

Can anyone think of a recent election in Hoboken that might have caused a pile of criminal complaints to have been referred to the NJ Attorney General's office?

Oh, THAT one!

The November 2010 4th Ward Special election that gifted us with Tim Occhipinti.  According to BlueJersey.com:

Red Flags: How much does it cost to buy an election in Hoboken's 4th ward?

Outgoing Hoboken Councilman Michael Lenz's supporters say it costs about $22,000.

That's how much his opponent Tim Occhipinti spent on "campaign workers" to win Ward 4's Council seat in November. What's unusual about that? Well, nothing, until you consider that there were about 575 of them, and that for all that Election Day "field" help there was little Occhipinti campaign presence visible on 4th Ward streets (say the Lenz folks). And that Occhipinti paid 575 workers for an election in which only 2,076 people cast ballots (Lenz Election Day paid workers = 17). Most alarming is a spike - a big one - in vote-by-mail ballots, and who it was who turned them in: overwhelmingly it was Occhipinti's "campaign workers". Hoboken Ward 4 absentee voting dwarfs that of every other election in Hudson County, according to the Hudson Clerk's figures. The county prosecutor's office recently referred 190 vote-by-mail ballots to the state Attorney General's office, though it's not known if any investigation concerns the Lenz campaign's allegations.

Aye Carumba!

190 VBMs from a 2010 election sitting in Trenton.  The FBI circling back to nail a fraudulent ELEC submission from 2009.  2 years later.

What do YOU think the Feds will do with our 4th Ward situation?  Nothing?

I doubt it.

The Occhipinti Blizzard of 2010

Politickernj is reporting that the charge was tossed on by virtue of a clarification to court precedent.

OK, whatever. Good job!