Steele receives 7 years for kickbacks
By Chris Sykes, Staff Writer
Former Mayor Michael Steele was sentenced to seven years in state prison Monday by Superior Court Judge Stephen B. Rubin in Hunterdon County.
Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced Monday that Steele was sentenced to state prison for rigging school district contracts and taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks as business administrator for the Irvington Board of Education. Steele’s sentence includes five years of parole ineligibility, which means that he will have to serve a minimum of five years before being eligible for parole, officials said.
Judge Rubin ordered that Steele pay $120,000 in restitution to the Irvington Board of Education and that he be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey. The ex-mayor who was elected to office in 1990 has also forfeited a portion of his state pension, officials said. After hearing from his attorney and the prosecutor, Rubin decided Steele should forfeit his pension for the years 2003, when he committed the crime, to his retirement in 2007. In total, Steele served in Irvington government and school district for 28 years.
Steele, 54, who currently lives in Easton, Pa., pleaded guilty on Sept. 30, 2009, to second-degree charges of official misconduct and pattern of official misconduct. The charges were part of a June 5, 2008 state grand jury indictment that resulted from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau and the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau.
In pleading guilty, Dow said Steele admitted that he took thousands of dollars in kickbacks on school district contracts. He retired from the district in April 2008.
“This defendant is going to prison because by rigging contracts and taking kickbacks, he stole from the Irvington school district and the taxpayers who fund it,” Dow said. “He had a duty as business administrator to serve the students of this struggling district as an honest steward, but instead he corruptly chose to serve himself.”
Dow said the state’s investigation revealed that Steele engaged in two separate bid-rigging schemes between 2003 and 2007 involving two contractors and approximately $1.4 million in contracts. The two contractors pleaded guilty in August 2008, admitting that they provided bribes to Steele in connection with the schemes.
Former Mayor Michael Steele was sentenced to seven years in state prison Monday by Superior Court Judge Stephen B. Rubin in Hunterdon County.
Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced Monday that Steele was sentenced to state prison for rigging school district contracts and taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks as business administrator for the Irvington Board of Education. Steele’s sentence includes five years of parole ineligibility, which means that he will have to serve a minimum of five years before being eligible for parole, officials said.
Judge Rubin ordered that Steele pay $120,000 in restitution to the Irvington Board of Education and that he be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey. The ex-mayor who was elected to office in 1990 has also forfeited a portion of his state pension, officials said. After hearing from his attorney and the prosecutor, Rubin decided Steele should forfeit his pension for the years 2003, when he committed the crime, to his retirement in 2007. In total, Steele served in Irvington government and school district for 28 years.
Steele, 54, who currently lives in Easton, Pa., pleaded guilty on Sept. 30, 2009, to second-degree charges of official misconduct and pattern of official misconduct. The charges were part of a June 5, 2008 state grand jury indictment that resulted from an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau and the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau.
In pleading guilty, Dow said Steele admitted that he took thousands of dollars in kickbacks on school district contracts. He retired from the district in April 2008.
“This defendant is going to prison because by rigging contracts and taking kickbacks, he stole from the Irvington school district and the taxpayers who fund it,” Dow said. “He had a duty as business administrator to serve the students of this struggling district as an honest steward, but instead he corruptly chose to serve himself.”
Dow said the state’s investigation revealed that Steele engaged in two separate bid-rigging schemes between 2003 and 2007 involving two contractors and approximately $1.4 million in contracts. The two contractors pleaded guilty in August 2008, admitting that they provided bribes to Steele in connection with the schemes.
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