The U.S. Attorney's office in Newark defended itself against the criticism, asserting that plea deals in exchange for cooperation were "firmly rooting in our system of justice"
NEWARK -- The U.S. Attorney's office in Newark on Wednesday defended itself against criticism from a federal judge, who in sentencing a Guttenberg contractor to no jail time in a Union City bid-rigging scheme accused the office of offering defendants cushy deals in exchange for guilty pleas in corruption cases.
"It is firmly rooted in our system of justice that a defendant who admits his own guilt and cooperates in the government's investigation or prosecution of criminal conduct is entitled to some consideration at the time of sentencing," Matthew Reilly, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, said in a statement. "It is the prosecution's responsibility to bring that information to the attention of the court, and the court has the discretion to determine how much weight to give it."
The office, headed by U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman, was responding to criticism from U.S. District Judge William H. Walls, who in Newark on Wednesday sentenced Leovaldo Fundora to 4 months of home confinement with electronic monitoring, plus 3 years' probation, consistent with a recommendation by Fishman's office.
The recommendation that Fundora not do time stemmed from his guilty plea to charges he conspired with Union City officials to rig bids on public housing contracts.
Prosecutors charged that Fundora, the owner of Falcon Remodeling of Guttenberg, conspired with officials to steal federal housing funds. The judge on Wednesday also ordered Fundora to pay back the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development $73,753.68 in ill-gotten funds.
The judge's criticism of Fishman's office was first reported by NorthJersey.com, which quoted Walls as criticizing Fishman's office for what he called a pattern of going easy on defendants who had ripped off the public, so long as they admitted it.
"It makes no sense in the context of true law enforcement," Walls was quoted as saying. "This is sheer legal nonsense."
"If you swindle the government," he added, "regardless of your status, you should go to jail."
Fundora pleaded guilty in January 2015, a little more than year before Washington Borgono, 65, a compliance officer for the Union City Development Agency, admitted his role in the bid rigging scheme last April. Borgono lives in North Bergen.
Steve Strunsky may be reached at sstrunsky@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @SteveStrunsky. Find NJ.com on Facebook.