A former board of education president has admitted in court that he accepted thousands of dollars in cash bribes while running for city council and reelection to the school board.
Sudhan Thomas, 50, the former president of the Jersey City Board of Education, accepted a plea deal with the state on Friday, pleading guilty to the third-degree charge of conspiracy to commit bribery in official and political matters, the state Attorney General’s Office said in a statement.
As part of the deal, the state will recommend a five-year state prison sentence.
Thomas, of Jersey City, will also forfeit $10,000 in illegal proceeds, pay a $30,000 public corruption profiteering penalty and forfeit any public employment as part of the deal, according to a news release.
Additionally, the state has imposed a permanent ban on public employment or public office in New Jersey for Thomas and debarred him from doing business with the state or any of its subdivisions for five years.
In his plea, he admitted to accepting $35,000 in cash bribes from a tax attorney in 2019 and promising to provide the attorney’s law firm with public contracts if his two election bids were successful, according to a news release.
Thomas received an initial $10,000 payment in June 2019 a payment for another $25,000 about a month later, authorities said. Law enforcement has already recovered the $25,000 payment.
“This defendant placed personal profit ahead of fulfilling his duties and doing what was best for the people who elected him,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said. “This case shows that my office takes fighting public corruption seriously. We will continue to prioritize reassuring taxpayers that their elected representatives are serving the public good, not using public resources for their own benefit.”
Thomas was charged along with four other local politicians, all of whom were accused of accepting bribes from the tax attorney. The tax attorney cooperated with law enforcement and has not been charged.
The others charged were former Morris County Commissioner John Cesaro, former State Assemblyman and Bayonne mayoral candidate Jason O’Donnell, former Mount Arlington Borough Council member John S. Windish and former Morris County Commissioner candidate Mary Dougherty.
Windish has since pleaded guilty to third-degree conspiracy to commit bribery in official and political matters and forfeited $7,000. He is also permanently barred from future public office or employment in New Jersey.
Dougherty, the wife of Morristown Mayor Timothy Dougherty, pleaded guilty to fourth-degree false swearing and forfeited $10,000. Following her plea, the New Jersey Real Estate Commission revoked her real estate license. She has since been sentenced to probation.
The criminal cases of Cesaro and O’Donnell are still pending.
Last year, Thomas was sentenced to two months in federal prison after accepting a plea deal in an embezzlement scandal related to his time as executive director of the now-defunct Jersey City Employment and Training Program. Thomas was also sentenced to two years of supervised release and ordered to pay $123,008 in restitution.
Thomas will be sentenced in the state case on Oct. 17.
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Nicolas Fernandes may be reached at nfernandes@njadvancemedia.com.
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