James William Treffinger (born May 20, 1950) is an American lawyer and Republican Party politician who served as
County Executive
A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county.
The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
from 1995 to 2003. He pleaded guilty to federal charges of
obstruction of justice
Obstruction of justice, in United States jurisdictions, is an act that involves unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investigators, or other gov ...
and
mail fraud
Mail fraud and wire fraud are terms used in the United States to describe the use of a physical or electronic mail system to defraud another, and are federal crimes there. Jurisdiction is claimed by the federal government if the illegal activity ...
in 2003.
Early life and legal career
Treffinger was born James Padalino in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Maplewood, New Jersey and attended
Saint Benedict's Preparatory School
St. Benedict's Preparatory School is a Catholic college preparatory school in Newark, New Jersey run by the Benedictines.
The school serves boys and girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade on a urban campus. The school has been accredit ...
in Newark. Treffinger later recalled, "We didn't know many Republicans... My family idolized F.D.R. and Truman and John Kennedy. It was a Catholic family, so Kennedy was a double hero."
He graduated '' magna cum laude'' from
Seton Hall University
Seton Hall University (SHU) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in South Orange, New Jersey. Founded in 1856 by then-Bishop James Roosevelt Bayley and named after his aunt, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Seton Hall is the ...
in 1972 with a degree in history. He was selected as a Fulbright scholar, the first in Seton Hall's history, and studied history, jurisprudence and economics in
Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
at the
University of Bonn
The Rhenish Friedrich Wilhelm University of Bonn (german: Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn) is a public research university located in Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was founded in its present form as the ( en, Rhine ...
and the
University of Marburg
The Philipps University of Marburg (german: Philipps-Universität Marburg) was founded in 1527 by Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse, which makes it one of Germany's oldest universities and the oldest still operating Protestant university in the wor ...
Rutgers School of Law—Newark
Rutgers Law School is the law school of Rutgers University, with classrooms in Newark and Camden, New Jersey. It is the largest public university, public law school and the 10th largest law school, overall, in the United States. Each class in the ...
in 1976. He was admitted to the bar in New York and New Jersey, concentrating in his legal career on corporate and insurance law. He worked for the Home Insurance Company in New York City from 1982 to 1987, serving as senior vice president for government affairs and associate general counsel. He was special insurance counsel at
Willkie Farr & Gallagher
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, commonly known as Willkie, is a white-shoe, international law firm headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1888, the firm specializes in corporate practice and employs approximately 1000 lawyers in 13 offices a ...
from 1987 to 1989. He joined
Hughes Hubbard & Reed
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP ( a.k.a. "Hughes Hubbard" or "HHR") is a multinational law firm headquartered in New York City with offices in the United States, France, and Japan.
The firm's history dates back to the late 19th century, when it co ...
in 1990, serving as partner until 1995.
Political career
Treffinger was elected to the
Verona
Verona ( , ; vec, Verona or ) is a city on the Adige River in Veneto, Italy, with 258,031 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region. It is the largest city municipality in the region and the second largest in nor ...
Township Council in 1980, serving until 1983, when he was elected Mayor of Verona, New Jersey. He served again on the Township Council from 1987 to 1989 and from 1991 to 1993, and then served another term as mayor from 1993 to 1995. From 1992 to 1995, he served on the Essex County
Board of Chosen Freeholders
In New Jersey, a Board of County Commissioners (until 2020 named the Board of Chosen Freeholders) is the elected county-wide government board in each of the state's 21 counties. In the five counties that have an elected county executive, the ...
.
In 1994, Treffinger defeated a divided Democratic party to become the second Republican
County Executive
A county executive, county manager or county mayor is the head of the executive branch of government in a United States county.
The executive may be an elected or an appointed position. When elected, the executive typically functions either as a ...
of Essex County in 17 years. His predecessor, Thomas J. D'Alessio had resigned after being convicted of money laundering, fraud and extortion. After taking office, Treffinger reported that the county had been left with a $161 million budget gap and was later credited with nearly closing that gap in the following year. Treffinger won re-election in 1998, defeating former Newark mayor Kenneth A. Gibson by a margin of 50 percent to 47 percent.
Treffinger ran for the
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States.
The composition and pow ...
in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from S ...
. He finished third in the Republican primary with 18 percent of the vote, behind U.S. Rep.
Bob Franks
Robert Douglas Franks (September 21, 1951 – April 9, 2010) was an American Republican politician who served as a U.S. Representative from New Jersey.
Early life
Franks was born on September 21, 1951, in Hackensack, New Jersey, the son of Nor ...
(36 percent) and State Senator
William Gormley
William L. "Bill" Gormley (born May 2, 1946) is an American attorney and Republican Party politician whose career in New Jersey's state Legislature spanned four decades. Representing the state's 2nd Legislative District, which includes most of ...
(34 percent).
In November 2001, he announced he would again run for U.S. Senate, in the 2002 race for the seat of incumbent
Robert Torricelli
Robert Guy Torricelli (born August 27, 1951), is an American attorney and former politician. A Democrat, Torricelli served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from New Jersey's 9th district from 1983 to 1997 and as a United States s ...
. He withdrew from the race in April 2002, after it became known that he was a target of a federal investigation.
Indictment and conviction
On April 18, 2002, agents from the
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...
and the Internal Revenue Service raided Treffinger's county office, carting away boxes of files, computers, and other materials. On October 28, Treffinger was arrested at his house in Verona.
U.S. Attorney
United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
Chris Christie
Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018.
Christie, who was born in N ...
announced that Treffinger had been charged in a 20-count indictment with extortion, fraud, obstructing a federal investigation and conspiracy. He was released on $100,000 bail.
On May 31, 2003, shortly before his trial was scheduled to begin, Treffinger pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction of justice and one count of mail fraud, admitting that he had solicited an illegal $15,000 campaign contribution in exchange for a county contract, and that he had placed two people on the Essex County payroll who instead worked on his 2000 Senate campaign. The remaining counts were dismissed as part of the plea agreement. On October 17, he was sentenced to 13 months in prison. Treffinger had sought a lighter sentence, saying he was "a new man, a better man" after converting from
Catholicism
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
to
Baptism
Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...
and joining an evangelical Baptist congregation in Bloomfield after his arrest.
In December 2004, Treffinger was released from federal prison into the custody of a Newark halfway house. In April 2006, he agreed to pay $171,000 to settle an investigation by the
Federal Election Commission
The Federal Election Commission (FEC) is an independent regulatory agency of the United States whose purpose is to enforce campaign finance law in United States federal elections. Created in 1974 through amendments to the Federal Election Cam ...
over improper use of campaign funds to pay his legal fees. In November 2007, it was reported that Treffinger had enrolled at the
Princeton Theological Seminary
Princeton Theological Seminary (PTSem), officially The Theological Seminary of the Presbyterian Church, is a private school of theology in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1812 under the auspices of Archibald Alexander, the General Assembly of t ...
and was planning to start a ministry for prison inmates.
See also
*
List of federal political scandals in the United States
This article provides a list of political scandals that involve officials from the government of the United States, sorted from oldest to most recent.
Scope and organization of political scandals
This article is organized by presidential terms ...
The Political Graveyard
The Political Graveyard is a website and database that catalogues information on more than 277,000 American political figures and political families, along with other information. The name comes from the website's inclusion of burial locations o ...