Carmelo's Countdown to Justice

SIX DAYS AND COUNTING...

Remember that federal corruption complaint against former Hoboken School Board Trustee and Housing Authority Executive Director,  Carmelo G. Garcia?  USA v. Carmelo G. Garcia, et al. accused Defendant Garcia of taking bribes from developers while he held positions as Deputy Mayor for the City of Newark and Acting Director of the Newark Department of Economic Housing and Development. 

Readers' note: Defendant Garcia is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty; the allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations.  

For Hoboken residents who've followed Carmelo's long career in Mile Square government and public life, the allegations are truly sensational. NJ.com described them as follows:

"Valvano and Sablosky exchanged cash and high-end jewelry, including a $7,500 watch, with Garcia so they could secure redevelopment agreements with Newark and purchase city-owned property for projects, authorities said.

In June 2018, Valvano allegedly provided a person only identified in court documents as “Individual 2” with an envelope containing $25,000 in cash to give to Garcia. Garcia arrived at an unidentified restaurant in Mountainside with a gym bag and told Individual 2 to meet him in the bathroom, authorities said.

“Once defendant Garcia and Individual 2 were alone in the bathroom, defendant Garcia set the gym bag on the floor in one of the bathroom stalls and then went over to the sink to wash his hands,” federal agents wrote in court documents. “Individual 2 entered the stall, placed the envelope with the $25,000 in cash in the gym bag, and left the bathroom.”

Federal authorities point to text messages they obtained from the two pawnbrokers that indicate Garcia accepted $5,000 from them."

$7,500 for an alleged watch?  Who would allegedly spend that kind of money on a watch? 

 

Right. Well, there's nothing wrong with spending one's own hard-earned money on nice things.  

So, to recap this case...

• USA v. Carmelo G. Garcia was filed on November 19, 2020.   
• Garcia was arrested 5 days later. 
• On November 25, Judge Joseph A Dickson granted an Order of Continuance, stopping the clock on statutory "speedy trial" time limits, "to permit defense council the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation in this matter and to allow parties to conduct plea negotiations and attempt to enter a plea agreement." 

The continuance expires in 6 days, on January 31. Which leaves anyone paying attention wondering what's next. 

Will Garcia seek to prove his innocence at trial?  Will he cooperate with prosecutors on a plea deal? Will both sides ask for a(nother) continuance?  

The next phase will be heard by a new judge; the Honorable Joseph Dickson recused himself last week, he's been replaced by the Honorable Mark Falk, United States Chief Magistrate Judge. 

Six days. Back at ya.