Former Jersey City Councilman Sentenced to a Year and a Day in Prison for Taking Bribes in Exchange for Future Influence

NEWARK, NJ—Philip J. Kenny, a former Jersey City Councilman, was sentenced today to a year and a day in prison for accepting $5,000 in bribes in exchange for his agreeing to obtain real estate development approvals through his future official influence and authority, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Kenny, 54, of Jersey City, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Jose L. Linares on October 6, 2009, to a one-count criminal Information that charged him with conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right. Judge Linares also imposed the sentence today in Newark federal court.

At his plea hearing, Kenny admitted that, between March 2009 and May 2009, he agreed to accept, and later accepted, $5,000 in corruption payments from a government cooperating witness (“CW”) in exchange for Kenny’s future official assistance as a member of the Jersey City Municipal Council. Kenny stated that, after his election to council and in return for the payments, he would assist the CW in obtaining expedited development approvals for a property located on Garfield Avenue in Jersey City. Kenny further admitted that he accepted two $2,500 checks, written on behalf of straw donors to his electoral campaign, during a subsequent meeting at a Jersey City restaurant on March 30, 2009.

The investigation leading to Kenny’s guilty plea and sentencing was part of a two-track undercover investigation into political corruption and money laundering that led to the arrest of 44 defendants in July 2009, and the charge against Kenny in October of that year.

Judge Linares continued Kenny's release on a $50,000 bond pending his surrender to U.S. Bureau of Prisons officials on or before June 21, 2010.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Linares sentenced Kenny to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a fine of $4,000. As required, Kenny also forfeited to the government $5,000, the amount of the corrupt payments that he received.

In determining an actual sentence, Judge Linares consulted the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which recommended sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors, including acceptance of responsibility. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all of that time.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, and the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge William P. Offord, for the investigation leading to today’ sentence. Fishman also thanked the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin, for its assistance.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Gramiccioni of the United States Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.