The US Attorney’s Office in the District of New Jersey announced the arrest of the Trenton Mayor, his brother, Ralphiel Mack, and his associate, Joseph A. “JoJo” Giorgianni, on September 10, 2012.  The men were arrested for crimes connected to a scheme to extort $100,000 or more from developers of a public parking garage.

Mr. Giorgianni was also charged with a separate complaint along with 8 other defendants for intention to sell a large amount of oxycodone pills throughout the Trenton area.

The extortion conspiracy occurred in the following manner:

Trenton Mayor Tony F. Mack oversaw a large amount of matters with property owned by the city, and the developer would pay Mack for his efforts to have the city approve the project.  However, the developer was working with federal agent all the while.

The defendants agreed to more than $119,000 in bribes, and $54,000 was physically handed over by date of the arrest.  During the investigation, the defendants tried to evade law enforcement by talking in code, using intermediaries, and more.  The installments of cash were handed over in the following manner:

1.       On October 27, 2011, Mr. Giorgianni accepted $3,000 from “CW-1,” the first cooperating individual, and Giorgianni proceed to text Mayor Mack in code.

2.        On January 25, 2012, Giorgianni, CC1, CW-1, and CW-2 talked of corrupt payments with Mack.  More text messages were sent between the two men.

3.       On April 25, 2012, Giorgianni accepted $3,000 in cash.  Giorgianni told Mack that Ralphiel, referenced to as “Uncle Remus,” would stop by.

4.       Giorgianni went on to collect $25,000 on June 8th and another $10,000 on June 28th.

The defendants expressed concern about law enforcement involvement before being arrested, and the FBI has large collections of recordings indicating the concern.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Eric W. Moran and Matthew J. Skahill are representing the U.S Government in Trenton and Camden.

Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation