Illinois and Louisiana have been making most of the recent headlines, but New Jersey is renewing its claim to fame as a land of political corruption. Federal agents swept up “about 30 people including several mayors, in a federal investigation into alleged public corruption and a high-volume, international money-laundering conspiracy.” But there’s more!
The probe also involves the trafficking of body parts, according to a person familiar with the matter. One of the individuals who was arrested Thursday morning is an alleged organ dealer, this person said.
According to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s office in Newark, the arrests related to the public-corruption probe included Peter Cammarano III, the newly elected Democratic mayor of Hoboken; Dennis Elwell, mayor of Secaucus, also a Democrat; state Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt, a Republican; and Democrat Leona Beldini, the deputy mayor of Jersey City.
Mostly just funny.