New Jersey Pol Gets 41 Months In Prison For Taking On-Camera Bribe

 

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Van Pelt Defends His Record

Van Pelt, who also served ten years as mayor of Ocean Township, made his name pushing through development projects in Ocean County.

He fiercely defended his record to ABC News, explaining that the deals made as mayor and assemblymen were the best for the town – a necessary compromise between development and environmental concerns.

"They have to protect the environment and I understood that," Van Pelt said of the Sierra Club's efforts to limit development.

ABC News

New Jersey Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt was... View Full Caption

New Jersey Assemblyman Daniel Van Pelt was convicted of bribery and extortion for taking an envelope stuffed with $10,000 from a developer-turned-FBI informant in exchange for environmental permits. The bribe was captured on undercover video in 2009. In an exclusive interview with ABC News, Van Pelt maintained his innocence, saying he took the money as a consulting fee. On November 19, he was sentenced to 41 months in prison. Close

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"People are going to develop anyway," he added. "Whether I'm here or someone else is here. We just tried to do it the right way."

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Kevin Morris is a graduate of Syracuse University's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications and formerly worked as a translator and journalist in China.

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