Former New Jersey Transit Official Charged with Agreeing to Accept $8,000 Bribe

NEWARK, NJ—A former New Jersey (NJ) Transit official appeared in court today on charges she agreed to accept an $8,000 bribe in connection with a snow removal contract, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Donna Schiereck, 56, of Jackson, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with one count of agreeing to accept a bribe. Schiereck appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge James B. Clark, III in Newark federal court for an initial appearance.

According to the complaint unsealed today:

From September 2012 to December 2012, Schiereck was a supervisor at NJ Transit. During that same time period, Schiereck agreed to accept $8,000 in exchange for her assistance with securing a snow removal contract for a Lakewood, New Jersey company.

The charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Aaron T. Ford; and the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Joseph R. Fuentes, superintendent, for the investigation leading to today’s charge. He thanked the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, under the direction of Acting Attorney General John Hoffman; and Elie Honig, director of the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice, for their roles in this investigation.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Luria of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael A. Monahan, the Deputy Chief of the Corruption Bureau, Division of Criminal Justice, in the New Jersey Office of the Attorney General.