U.S. v. Delaurentis, Criminal No. 99-431.

83 F.Supp.2d 455

UNITED STATES of America v. James V. DeLAURENTIS.

Criminal No. 99-431.

United States District Court, D. New Jersey.

January 27, 2000.

Opinion on Denial of Reargument February 10, 2000.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Robert J. Cleary, U.S. Attorney, District of New Jersey, Mary A. Futcher, Assistant U.S. Attorney, Camden, NJ, for U.S.

Louis M. Barbone, Jacobs & Barbone, P.A., A Professional Corp., Atlantic City, NJ, for Defendant, James V. DeLaurentis.

AMENDED OPINION

ORLOFSKY, District Judge.

This case presents this Court with the first opportunity to apply the Third Circuit's recent decision in United States v. Zwick, 199 F.3d 672 (3d Cir.1999). In Zwick, the Third Circuit interpreted 18 U.S.C. § 666, which makes "bribe-taking" by local government officials a federal offense. This statute applies where local government entities receive $10,000 or more in federal grant money. In Zwick, the Third Circuit held that local government officials can be prosecuted under 18 U.S.C. § 666 only if some connection exists between the conduct with which the official is charged and the federal funds received by the government entity for which he or she works. See Zwick, 199 F.3d at 686-87.

In this case, James V. DeLaurentis ("DeLaurentis"), the Supervising Detective of the Hammonton Police Department in Hammonton, N.J., is charged with multiple counts of extortion and bribery. DeLaurentis has moved to dismiss Counts Two and Six of the indictment, which allege violations of 18 U.S.C. § 666, on the ground that a sufficient connection did not exist between the bribes he allegedly accepted and the federal grant money received by the Hammonton Police Department in the year in which the bribes were purportedly paid to him. DeLaurentis also moves to compel disclosure of the grand jury proceedings in this case because he contends that such disclosure is necessary to determine whether the grand jury was presented with sufficient evidence to determine whether a connection existed between DeLaurentis's alleged conduct and the federal grant money received by the Hammonton Police Department. Construing Zwick, I find that a sufficient connection did not exist between the bribes DeLaurentis allegedly received and the federal grant money given to the Hammonton Police Department. Accordingly, I shall grant DeLaurentis's motion to dismiss Counts Two and Six of the indictment which charge violations of 18 U.S.C. § 666. In light of my dismissal of these Counts, I find that DeLaurentis's motion to compel disclosure of the grand jury proceedings in this case is now moot. Accordingly, I shall deny DeLaurentis's motion to compel disclosure of the grand jury transcripts.

The Government also moves in limine to admit certain evidence of bad acts by DeLaurentis. For the reasons set forth below, I shall grant the Government's motion in part and deny it in part.

I. Factual and Procedural History

On July 27, 1999, DeLaurentis was indicted on four counts of extortion in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1951¹ and two counts of soliciting and accepting bribes in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 666.² See Indictment (filed July 27, 1999). The allegations that form the basis of this indictment stem from four separate incidents, each involving the Choris Bar — a local Hammonton watering hole.

The first incident relates to an exchange of money for influence. The Government claims that DeLaurentis solicited and received $5,000 from the owner of the Choris Bar in exchange for his help in obtaining a renewal of the bar's liquor license. See Indictment, Cts. One-Two; Criminal Compl., Attach. B (filed June 17, 1999). The Government alleges that when the bar applied to the Mayor of Hammonton and the Hammonton Town Council to have its liquor license renewed in July, 1995, the Mayor and the Town Council denied the bar's application based on reports that the bar served alcohol to minors. See Criminal Compl., Attach. B. The Government contends that DeLaurentis then made an offer to the owner of the Choris Bar to intercede with Hammonton officials on the bar's behalf in exchange for $5,000. See id. The Government maintains that the owner of the Choris Bar subsequently paid DeLaurentis the $5,000 and that DeLaurentis, having accepted the money, wrote a letter to Hammonton officials urging that the officials reach a settlement with the owner of the Choris Bar. See id. The Government states that the bar's liquor license was subsequently renewed. See id.

This was not the last time that DeLaurentis sold influence for cash, according to the Government. The Government charges that on a separate occasion — after a food vendor on the premises of the Choris Bar was issued a citation for serving food without the requisite license — the owner of the bar paid DeLaurentis an estimated $1,000 to intervene with Hammonton officials on behalf of the vendor. See Indictment, Ct. Four; Criminal Compl., Attach. B. It is alleged that although the vendor was subsequently fined, the vendor did not lose his license. See Criminal Compl., Attach. B.

The Government further alleges that DeLaurentis not only sold influence for cash, but also extracted money from the owner of the Choris Bar by making threats. Specifically, the Government maintains that DeLaurentis elicited a $2,000 pay-off from the owner of the Choris Bar by threatening to file a false police report. See Indictment, Ct. Three; Criminal Compl., Attach. B. According to the Government, DeLaurentis arrested an employee of the Choris Bar on July 11, 1996, for selling drugs. See Criminal Compl., Attach. B. The employee had been selling drugs out of his own home. See id. The Government contends that DeLaurentis nevertheless approached the owner of the Choris Bar and threatened to file a police report stating that the arrested employee had been selling drugs from the bar. See id. The Government asserts that because such a report of drug sales at the bar would adversely affect the status of the bar's liquor license, the owner of the Choris Bar paid DeLaurentis approximately $2,000 to prevent him from filing the false police report. See id.

In a later, unrelated incident, the Government alleges that DeLaurentis threatened to inform Hammonton officials about various wrongdoings at the Bar and received approximately $6,000 from the owner of the Choris Bar for not acting on the threats. See Indictment Cts. Five-Six; Criminal Compl., Attach. B.

On October 15, 1999, DeLaurentis filed a motion to dismiss Counts Two and Six of the indictment alleging violations of 18 U.S.C. § 666 and to compel disclosure of the grand jury proceedings in this case. See Notice of Mot. of DeLaurentis (filed Oct. 15, 1999). Counts Two and Six concern the alleged receipt of $5,000 by DeLaurentis for his role in securing the renewal of the Choris Bar's liquor license and the alleged receipt of $6,000 by DeLaurentis for abandoning his threat to report the Choris Bar for various wrongdoings. See id.; Indictment, Cts. Two, Six. DeLaurentis moves to compel disclosure of the grand jury proceedings on the theory that such disclosure will reveal whether or not the Government presented sufficient evidence to the grand jury to demonstrate that a connection existed between the federal money received by Hammonton and the bribe money allegedly accepted by DeLaurentis. See Def.'s Br. Supp. Pre-Trial Mots. at 9 (Received Oct. 15, 1999). On the same day, the Government filed a motion to admit evidence concerning other bad acts by Defendant DeLaurentis. See Notice of Mot. of Government (filed Oct 15, 1999). These motions are currently before the Court. I have jurisdiction in this matter under 18 U.S.C. § 3231.³

II. Discussion

A. DeLaurentis's Motion to Dismiss Counts Two and Six

DeLaurentis moves to dismiss Counts Two and Six of the indictment alleging violations of 18 U.S.C. § 666. Among other things, 18 U.S.C. § 666 makes it unlawful for an agent of a local government which receives $10,000 or more in federal funding to accept something of value worth $5,000 or more with the intent to be influenced or rewarded "in connection with" any business of such government. The dispute between DeLaurentis and the Government revolves around the meaning of the language "in connection with" contained in 18 U.S.C. § 666. DeLaurentis argues that there must be some connection between the offense committed by a local government actor and the federal funding received by the government entity for which he or she works to prove a violation of this statute. See Def.'s Br. Supp. Pre-Trial Mots. at 6-9. DeLaurentis asserts that no such connection existed in this case. See id. at 6, 8-9. The Government, on the other hand, interprets the statute's "in connection with" language to mean that no connection needs to be established between the offense and the funding and that Counts Two and Six of the indictment should survive DeLaurentis's motion to dismiss. See Government's Resp. at 5-9 (received Nov. 3, 1999). In the alternative, the Government argues that if such a connection is required, a sufficient connection existed in this case for the charges to go forward. See id. at 10-12.

1. The Zwick Decision

The Third Circuit recently considered the issue of whether 18 U.S.C. § 666 requires a connection to be established between federal funds allocated to a local government entity and a bribe received by an official of that entity in United States v. Zwick, 199 F.3d 672 (3d Cir.1999).⁴ In Zwick, the defendant (Zwick) was an elected member of Ross Township Board of Commissioners, the governing body of Ross Township, Pennsylvania. See id. at 676. He was convicted under 18 U.S.C. § 666 for receiving bribes from building developers in exchange for helping them obtain sewer access and use permits from the Township and for enabling a landscaper to obtain a contract with the Township. See id. at 676-79. During the period in which Zwick solicited these bribes, Ross Township received federal funds that were...