Corruption? No crime here! Stunning court win for NJ party boss

In a defeat for the state's attorney general, a judge has dismissed the corruption case against South Jersey powerbroker George Norcross.

Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw granted Norcross' and other defendants' motion to dismiss a state grand jury's indictment on racketeering charges brough by Attorney General Matt Platkin.

Platkin said in a statement he plans to appeal the judge's ruling.

The charges stem from a June 2024 indictment, announced by Platkin at a news conference at which Norcross himself took the unusual step of appearing at in person and sitting directly in front of the attorney general. The charges accused Norcross and five other defendants of running “an enterprise” going back to 2012 to use their political influence to craft legislation to serve their own interests.

Where was the crime?

In a nearly 100-page ruling, the judge found the prosecution's allegations did not amount to criminal coercion or extortion and are time-barred.

“Defendants correctly argue that when considering private parties negotiating economic deals in a free market system, threats are sometimes neither wrongful or unlawful. In these situations, there may be nothing inherently wrong in using economic fear to obtain property,” Warshaw wrote.

Among the allegations against Norcross were charges that he threatened a developer who would not relinquish his rights to waterfront property in Camden, New Jersey, on Norcross’ terms. The indictment cites a profanity-laden phone recording of Norcross in which he tells the developer he will face “enormous consequences.” The person asks if Norcross is threatening him, according to the indictment. “Absolutely,” Norcross replies.

The indictment also said Norcross and the co-defendants extorted and coerced businesses with property rights on Camden’s waterfront and obtained tax incentive credits, which they then sold for millions of dollars. Platkin described Camden as long suffering from economic decline.

At the time, defense lawyer Michael Critchley had accused Platkin of having a “vendetta” against Norcross, noting that the waterfront development had been investigated for years by several agencies, including federal prosecutors in Philadelphia and New Jersey, as well as Platkin’s predecessor.

Those investigations came to nothing, Critchley said.

Norcross, who served as executive chairman of the insurance firm Conner Strong & Buckelew, had been widely viewed as among the most influential unelected Democrats in the state.

He was a Democratic National Committee member until 2021 and previously served as the head of the Camden County Democratic Party. A close friend to the former state Senate president, he was a behind-the-scenes power player and well-known financial backer to Democrats in the state and nationwide.

In addition to dismissing the indictment against Norcross, the judge's order applied to his brother and co-defendant Philip A. Norcross, a New Jersey lawyer; George Norcross’s longtime lawyer William M. Tambussi; Camden Community Partnership chief executive and former Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd; Sidney R. Brown, chief executive of trucking and logistics company NFI; and development company executive John J. O’Donnell.