State Sen. Wayne Bryant indicted on corruption charges

Thursday, March 29, 2007
STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
AP

A federal grand jury Thursday indicted Wayne R. Bryant, the Democratic state senator at the heart of a criminal investigation of the Legislature, alleging that he bestowed multimillion-dollar grants in exchange for three fictitious jobs and an $81,000-a-year public pension.

Also named in the 20-count indictment was R. Michael Gallagher, a former University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey dean who allegedly rigged Bryant’s hiring as a consultant, and who manipulated data to give himself nearly $100,000 in performance bonuses.

“Senator Bryant corrupted multiple public agencies to feed his own insatiable desire to put more money in his pocket,” U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said in a news conference outside the Clarkson S. Fisher Federal Building in Trenton. “He succeeded in making himself rich in the short term and secure in the long term. … That scheme stops today.”

Christie declined to comment on the progress of the inquiry into Bryant’s colleagues, including the three North Jersey legislators who were subpoenaed by his office Monday to testify about how lawmakers annually dole out hundreds of millions of taxpayers dollars to hospitals, universities and community programs.

More at link: http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr=eXJpcnk3ZjczN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXkzJmZnYmVsN2Y3dnFlZUVFeXk3MTAxOTc1JnlyaXJ5N2Y3MTdmN3ZxZWVFRXl5Mg==