Robert J. Del Tufo (November 18, 1933 – March 2, 2016) was an American lawyer. He was the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1977 to 1980, and later served as the

Attorney General of New Jersey The attorney general of New Jersey is a member of the executive cabinet of the state and oversees the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, Department of Law and Public Safety. The office is appointed by the governor of New Jersey, confi ...

from 1990 to 1993.

Background

Del Tufo was born in 1933 in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, to Raymond and Mary Del Tufo, who were Italian immigrants. He graduated from the

Newark Academy Newark Academy is a coeducational private day school located in Livingston, Essex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey, serving students in sixth through twelfth grades. It was the first school in New Jersey to offer the International Ba ...

and received a BA degree in 1955 from

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

. He received his LLB degree from

Yale Law School Yale Law School (YLS) is the law school of Yale University, a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. It was established in 1824. The 2020–21 acceptance rate was 4%, the lowest of any law school in the United ...

in 1958. His older brother, Raymond Del Tufo, Jr., was also a lawyer who served as U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey.

Career

From 1958 to 1960, Del Tufo served as legal secretary to Chief Justice Joseph Weintraub of the

New Jersey Supreme Court The Supreme Court of New Jersey is the supreme court, highest court in the U.S. state of New Jersey. In its current form, the Supreme Court of New Jersey is the final judicial authority on all cases in the state court system, including cases cha ...

. He was admitted to the New Jersey Bar in 1959 and practiced law in

Morristown, New Jersey Morristown () is a Town (New Jersey), town in and the county seat of Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.

, from 1960 to 1974, and in

, from 1980 to 1986. He served as an assistant prosecutor in Morris County from 1963 to 1965 and as first assistant prosecutor there from 1965 to 1967. Del Tufo held the position of U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 1977 until resigning in 1980. He was critical of the Abscam operation, arguing that undercover agents had effectively committed

entrapment Entrapment is a practice in which a law enforcement agent or an agent of the state induces a person to commit a crime that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit.''Sloane'' (1990) 49 A Crim R 270. See also agent prov ...

in how they had offered bribes to Senator Harrison A. Williams. However, when Williams later challenged his convictions on these grounds, he was unsuccessful, and Judge George C. Pratt accused New Jersey's federal prosecutors of being too "reluctant" to support the operation. He sought the Democratic nomination for

Governor of New Jersey The governor of New Jersey is the head of government of the U.S. state of New Jersey. The office of governor is an elected position with a four-year term. There is a two consecutive term limit, with no limitation on non-consecutive terms. The ...

in 1985, losing in the primary to

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

County executive Peter Shapiro, who in turn lost to

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American politician, statesman, and academic administrator from the state of New Jersey. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, Kean served two terms as the 48th governor of New Jersey f ...

in the general election. He was sworn in as

Attorney General In most common law jurisdictions, the attorney general (: attorneys general) or attorney-general (AG or Atty.-Gen) is the main legal advisor to the government. In some jurisdictions, attorneys general also have executive responsibility for law enf ...

on January 16, 1990, the day of Governor

James Florio James Joseph Florio (August 29, 1937 – September 25, 2022) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 49th governor of New Jersey from 1990 to 1994. He was previously the U.S. representative for New Jersey's 1st congressional dist ...

's inauguration, resigning in 1993 to join the

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

firm

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP and Affiliates (known as Skadden) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational law firm headquartered in New York City. The firm comprises approximately 1,700 lawyers and is the fourth highest ...

. In February 2006, Governor

Jon Corzine Jon Stevens Corzine ( ; born January 1, 1947) is an American financial executive and retired politician who served as a United States Senator from New Jersey from 2001 to 2006, and the 54th governor of New Jersey from 2006 to 2010. Corzine ran f ...

appointed Del Tufo Chairman the Board of Trustees of the

University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey The University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ) was a state-run health sciences institution with six locations in New Jersey. It was founded as the Seton Hall College of Medicine and Dentistry in 1954, and by the 1980s was both a ...

Personal life and death

Del Tufo and his first wife, Ann, had four children before divorcing."Katherine Hughes, Robert J. Del Tufo"
''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', March 6, 1994. Accessed April 26, 2008. On March 5, 1994, Del Tufo married Katherine Nouri Hughes, vice president of communications for the

Milken Family Foundation The Milken Family Foundation is a private foundation established by Lowell Milken and Michael Milken in 1982. Lowell Milken serves as chairman and co-founder of the foundation. Goals The foundation is focused primarily on supporting education ...

. She was previously married to Emmet John Hughes, a journalist and aide to President

Dwight D. Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

. Del Tufo became stepfather to her two daughters. In 1985, he was reported to be a resident of Morris Township, New Jersey. Del Tufo died from lung cancer in

Princeton, New Jersey The Municipality of Princeton is a Borough (New Jersey), borough in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton, New Jersey, Borough of Princeton and Pri ...

on March 2, 2016, at the age of 82.

References

External links

Official bio
Office of the

. Accessed March 20, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Del Tufo, Robert 1933 births 2016 deaths People from Morris Township, New Jersey Politicians from Newark, New Jersey Princeton University alumni Yale Law School alumni New Jersey attorneys general United States attorneys for the District of New Jersey Lawyers from Morris County, New Jersey New York (state) lawyers Lawyers from Newark, New Jersey Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom people 20th-century American lawyers Deaths from lung cancer in New Jersey Candidates in the 1985 United States elections American people of Italian descent