Atty: Schoor plea bolsters civil suit

When the founding member of a civil engineering firm pleaded guilty last week to paying a "gratuity" to township officials, one attorney said that Ocean Township's lawsuit involving backdoor deals with a former mayor has become that much stronger.

In its civil suit, the township is seeking punitive damages for an extortion scheme involving former Ocean Township Mayor Terrance Weldon and other professionals and citizens.

Most recently, the suit has gained some momentum, according to attorney Stephen Dratch, who is representing Ocean Township in its civil lawsuit against Weldon and other former township officials and private citizens who participated in a scheme to defraud township taxpayers.

On Sept. 22, Howard M. Schoor, 69, of Manalapan, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to defraud the public after he admitted paying $15,000 to Weldon and Stephen Kessler, the chairman of the local sewerage authority for their support of contracts with the engineering firm.

"Now that [Schoor] has pled guilty, it makes my case easier," said Dratch, who explained that Weldon is currently serving jail time after he admitted in 2002 that he was involved in extortion schemes.

"… [I]t's really a question of summary judgment," Dratch said. "Everyone [involved in the suit] is in the process of being served with the summonses and complaints," Dratch said.

Both Schoor, a founder of Schoor De- Palma, now CMX, and Kessler have been named in the township's suit for their involvement in a scheme to defraud township taxpayers, Dratch explained.

In addition to punitive damages, the township may also seek to recover any payments that were made to public officials by private citizens as well as any profits that were made as a result of the payments.

Schoor was originally charged with paying a bribe to Weldon, according to Dratch, who explained that in the plea agreement, Schoor admitted to paying a "gratuity" to the former mayor.

Schoor is scheduled for sentencing in January, and the conspiracy charge carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison.

From about 1996 to 2002, Schoor De- Palma provided engineering and consulting services to the Township of Ocean Sewerage Authority (TOSA). Kessler was chairman of the TOSA board during that entire time and Weldon was on the board until 2000.

Both Kessler and Weldon were in positions to vote on contracts awarded by TOSA to Schoor DePalma, according to Dratch.

Schoor admitted that during the period of 2000 and 2001, he agreed to pay $15,000 to Kessler, pursuant to a solicitation from Kessler and Weldon. Schoor admitted that the payments were a reward to them for their official support.

Schoor admitted that he paid Kessler three installments of $5,000, including the last installment of $5,000 in November 2001 in Atlantic City. Schoor said he did this without the knowledge of anyone else at Schoor DePalma, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie's office.

Schoor's attorney, Justin Walder, said that his client is not guilty of paying a "bribe" per se, explaining that the payments do not constitute a bribe because they did not result in a specific benefit to Schoor or Schoor DePalma.

"The payment of the money never had as a condition that any particular thing would happen by virtue of the money," Walder said.

Despite Weldon and Kessler's involvement in the scheme, Walder said that Schoor DePalma would have been awarded contracts by TOSA anyway, because other authority members voted in favor of the firm as well.

"Weldon and Kessler's vote would not have made a difference," Walder said, explaining that U.S. Attorney's Office agreed that the illegal payments did not affect the quality of Schoor DePalma's work.

The township's suit against Weldon and his co-conspirators comes in the aftermath of Weldon, 59, pleading guilty to three counts of extortion in 2002. He was sentenced to 58 months in federal prison.

Elected mayor in 1991, Weldon served as a TOSA member and sat on the township's Planning Board. He was sentenced to 58 months in federal prison in August 2007.

During his guilty plea, Weldon admitted that he took cash bribes for assisting three developers in securing zoning and subdivision approvals on three separate projects in the township.

Weldon stated in his plea that he accepted $50,000 in cash from a Neptune-based developer who sought and ultimately received approval to build a 75-unit development in Ocean Township.

In December 2006, a Monmouth County developer and Ocean Township resident, Moshe G. Gohar, pleaded guilty in connection with the $50,000 bribe, stating that he conspired with Weldon and a Neptune businessman to have the 75-unit development built. Weldon also admitted to receiving three separate payments, ranging from $2,000 to $3,000 each, from a second developer in connection with a 328-unit residential development. The former mayor further admitted to receiving a total of $5,000 from a third developer who sought to build houses along Mark Place in the township.

In his plea, Weldon stated that he used his role as a Planning Board member to help the developers secure the approvals they needed to build their respective projects.

Following Weldon's guilty plea in 2002, Kessler pleaded guilty in July 2005 to taking part in $15,000 worth of bribes in 2001. In his plea, Kessler admitted that he and Weldon used their official influence to reward an unnamed engineering firm with sewer-line projects in Ocean Township.

Township officials have said the decision to move forward with the civil suit at this time was made because of the statute of limitations that restricts the amount of time the township has to file such a suit.

Contact Daniel Howley at dhowley@gmnews.com