Rosario, Gibbs, Jacobs Sentenced
in 'Operation Steal Pier' - Matos Pending

Published May 2, 2007

CAMDEN – Two former Atlantic City councilmen were sentenced today for accepting bribes in exchange for using their influence on city contracts, while a contractor who offered bribes was sentenced on an unrelated drug charge, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

A three-year South Jersey corruption investigation netted guilty pleas from a total of six individuals: three Atlantic City councilmen, including council president Craig Callaway, a Camden Councilman, a contractor and an insurance consultant.

Each of the defendants have admitted their roles in various schemes to exchange bribes for municipal contracts.U.S. District Judge Joseph H. Rodriguez today sentenced former Atlantic City councilman Ramon Rosario, 48, to 10 months of confinement, 5 months of which are to be served in federal prison followed by 5 months of home confinement.

Rodriguez also ordered Rosario to pay a $1000 fine and to serve three years of supervised release upon the completion of his prison term. Judge Rodriguez sentenced former councilman Gibb Jones, 81, to 5 years of probation, which includes 6 months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.

At Rosario’s and Jones’ sentencings, Judge Rodriguez granted the government’s 5K motions for downward departure from the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Judith H. Germano and Thomas Eicher argued in favor of the downward departure based on the defendants’ significant cooperation in the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Germano told the court that Rosario’s cooperation was proactive and included making consensual recordings. In sentencing Jones, Judge Rodriguez stated that he considered the defendant’s cooperation, advanced age and health problems when determining the actual sentence.

Additionally, Judge Rodriguez sentenced Terry Jacobs, 42, of Pleasantville, a contractor in Atlantic City, Camden and elsewhere, to 36 months in prison for conspiring to distribute more than five kilograms of cocaine in Gloucester County on Jan. 30, 2004. Judge Rodriguez also ordered Jacobs to pay a $3000 fine and to serve three years of supervised release. In sentencing

Jacobs to a prison term below the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guideline range, Judge Rodriguez recognized the “very substantial” cooperation Jacobs provided to law enforcement authorities, which spanned three years and included making many consensual recordings of multiple targets. Rosario and Jones both pleaded guilty before Judge Rodriguez on Oct. 4, 2006. Rosario pleaded guilty to one count of attempted extortion under color of official right. At his plea hearing,

Rosario admitted that he accepted a total of $14,000 in bribes between August and November 2004 from Jacobs, an undercover FBI agent and another businessman in exchange for his official influence in the awarding of city development contracts.

Jones pleaded guilty to one count of extortion under color of official right. Jones admitted that he accepted more than $5,000 in regular cash payments in 2003 from a businessman in exchange for his official influence in the awarding of city development contracts.

Jacobs pleaded guilty on Aug. 30, 2006, before Judge Rodriguez. During his guilty plea, Jacobs admitted his involvement in the distribution of over five kilograms of cocaine. Jacobs further admitted paying bribes – independently and later as a cooperating witness for federal authorities– to public officials including Callaway and former Camden councilman Ali Sloan El, 53, in exchange for preferential treatment on city contracts.

Yesterday, Edward DiNicolantonio, 70, of Atlantic City, a long time politically active Atlantic City businessman, pleaded guilty to bribing certain Atlantic City Council members in exchange for preferential treatment on city contracts and other business opportunities. At his plea hearing, DiNicolantonio admitted that from 2002 until 2006 he made corrupt cash payments totaling in excess of $45,000 to Callaway and Jones in return for their support for various matters occurring before council. DiNicolantonio is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Rodriguez on Aug 23. On March 13, 2007, Callaway was sentenced to 40 months in federal prison for accepting $36,000 in bribes to assist Jacobs in obtaining major construction work in Atlantic City. On April 19, 2007, Ali Sloan El was sentenced to 20 months in federal prison for accepting $36,000 in bribes in exchange for steering Camden redevelopment work to Jacobs.

Christie credited Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Pedro Ruiz, in Newark, with the corruption investigation in the Atlantic City region.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas J. Eicher and Judith H. Germano, both of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.