John Lynch pleaded guilty today in federal court to accepting a bribe from a South Brunswick sand company and attempting to use his influence to push a recreational plan on the property.
From an AP story from the Record:
John Lynch, a former mayor of New Brunswick, admitted in court that he accepted $25,000 from a South Brunswick sand mining company in return for helping the company in its efforts to build a recreational park.
He also admitted failing to declare $150,000 in extra income he earned in 1999.
The payments from the unnamed sand company took place between March 1998 and February 2002, according to court documents. In return, Lynch took a number of actions, including sending a letter on official state Senate stationery to the Department of Environmental Protection, vouching for the company’s proposed project.
Former Sen. Lynch apparently didn’t name the sand company and the Record left it at that, but the Star-Ledger in a live post identified the company as Dallenbach Sand Co.
Dallenbach had proposed a land-swap with the state in 1998 that would have allowed it to mine
an additional 450 acres — 165 of which are state property — with the promise that the area would be turned into a recreation area after the mining was completed. The company proposed to turn over 54 acres immediately to the state and to establish a $15 million to $20 million escrow account to fund the long-term operation of the facility. The proposal was not put into action. (from a 1999 story in the South Brunswick Post that is not yet available online)
The company later sought
a land-use variance from the zoning board to allow the company to mine a 43-acre site that would extend onto the adjacent property, occupied by Operating Engineers Local 825.
The application was denied and Dallenbach was later stripped of its mining permits.
The question remains whether federal investigators are finished or whether they will be targeting the unnamed sand company.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
