Former Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo received a 38-month federal prison sentence Wednesday on corruption charges for taking bribes while in office.
By Philip Sean Curran, Staff Writer
Mr. Bencivengo also must make $12,400 in restitution—the total amount of the bribes—pay a $3,000 fine and undergo three years of supervised release when he is released from prison. Federal authorities have said his crimes ensnared others, including a former township employee who served as a middleman to launder the illicit money.
“Mayor Bencivengo betrayed the people of Hamilton Township and all of the honest public servants in New Jersey who take their oaths and their responsibilities seriously,” said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman in a press release announcing the sentencing.
Mr. Bencivengo’s lawyer, Jerome A. Ballarotto, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The former mayor, a Republican, was indicted in June on federal extortion, bribery and money laundering charges. The Justice Department alleged that Mr. Bencivengo had taken $12,400 from Marliese Ljuba in return for helping her company, Allen Associates, keep its no-bid contract as the school district’s health insurance broker.
Authorities have said that Mr. Bencivengo, despite earning a six-figure salary as mayor, claimed to have financial problems. In court papers, he met Ms. Ljuba in May 2011 telling her that he had needed money to pay for “taxes and living expenses.” Ms. Ljuba, who later become a cooperating government witness who recorded some of their conversations, agreed to provide him money.
The case led authorities to Robert Warney, then serving as the director of community planning and compliance for the township. In June 2012, he pleaded guilty to laundering one of the installments of the bribe, also admitting that as far back as 2006, he took $10,000 in bribes from Ms. Ljuba during his days on the Board of Education.
Mr. Bencivengo, 58, was found guilty Nov.20 after a trial in federal court in Trenton. One day after the verdict, he resigned his office “with a very heavy heart.”
Current Hamilton Mayor Kelly A. Yaede, a former councilwoman who ran on the same ticket as Mr. Bencivengo, said Wednesday that her thoughts are with Mr. Bencivengo’s family.
“Today, John Bencivengo faced his day in court and the court imposed the sentence it deemed appropriate in light of Mr. Bencivengo’s actions,” she said. “Mr. Bencivengo will now serve his punishment and pay his debt to society.”