Former City of Newark Employee Sentenced to Prison for Attempted Extortion

TRENTON, NJ—A former City of Newark, N.J., official was sentenced today to six months in prison and six months of home confinement for attempted extortion, after admitting that he accepted a $10,000 corrupt payment in order to assist a contractor in obtaining demolition contracts with the city, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Anthony Clark, 46, of Newark—a former manager of Property Clearance for the City of Newark Department of Neighborhood Services and former program manager for the City of Newark Library—previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an information charging him with attempted extortion under the color of official right. Judge Wolfson also imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to the information to which Clark pleaded guilty and statements made in court: Clark admitted that in October 2006, he agreed to use his official authority and influence to obtain demolition contracts from the City of Newark for a contractor, actually a government cooperating witness (CW), in exchange for corrupt payments. Specifically, Clark admitted accepting a $10,000 cash bribe from the CW on October 31, 2006.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Wolfson sentenced Clark to two years of supervised release and ordered him to forfeit $10,000.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward in Newark, for the investigation leading to the conviction. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Harvey Bartle of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Trenton.

Defense counsel: Brian Reilly Esq., Trenton