George Norcross, a New Jersey businessman and co-owner of the Philadelphia Inquirer, walked to Judge Patricia McInerney’s courtroom at Philadelphia City Hall.
Matlock | Associated Press
The New Jersey Democratic power broker accused of racketeering by the state attorney general pleaded not guilty Tuesday to charges that he threatened people whose properties he tried to take over and orchestrated tax incentive legislation to benefit organizations he controlled.
George E. Norcross III and four other co-defendants appeared in state Superior Court in Mercer County in connection with the criminal indictment unsealed last month by Attorney General Matt Platkin. A plea was entered to the charge. They have all pleaded not guilty.
“My client is emphatically not guilty,” Norcross’ attorney Michael Critchley told Judge Peter Warshaw.
A sixth co-defendant sent a letter to the judge saying his attorneys are currently involved in another trial and have not yet entered a plea, Warshaw said.
The Democratic attorney general’s charges against a longtime influential Democrat have put the state’s dominant party under scrutiny in an election year, while the state’s senior U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez is New York is on trial on unrelated federal bribery charges.
In a sign of how contentious the trial could become, prosecutors and defense attorneys went back and forth on Tuesday over nearly 14,000 pages of documents that the state has yet to turn over to the defendants as required by rules. The attorney general’s office sought an order against the documents barring their distribution to third parties such as the news media, while the defense argued there should be no such order.
The judge urged both sides to agree to a temporary order prohibiting the disclosure of the records until September 9 while the parties determine what should be withheld from third parties and what can be passed on.
“You can imagine how happy I would be to serve as referee if any of this discovery should be subject to a protective order,” Warshaw said.
Among the things prosecutors have cited in the indictment are recordings that include a profanity-filled phone call from Norcross in which he told the developer he would face “tremendous consequences.” The man asked Norcross if he was threatening him, and Norcross responded “of course,” according to the complaint.
Defense attorneys said Tuesday they plan to challenge the apparent wiretapping that led to the recordings.
Norcross is accused of running a criminal enterprise for more than a decade beginning in 2012, by threatening to acquire land owners, using the city government of Camden, New Jersey, to acquire land and enacting tax-advantage legislation to benefit beneficiaries. company. The allegations have been the subject of investigations for years, and Norcross has denied any wrongdoing and praised the benefits his investments have brought to the economically struggling city of Camden, across the Delaware River from Philadelphia.
He said the prosecution was politically motivated and baseless. He angrily denounced the charges and sat in the front row of the attorney general’s news conference the day they were unsealed.
Norcross, a wealthy insurance executive and a member of the Democratic National Committee until 2021, has also made financial contributions to state and national Democrats. He has since moved to Palm Beach, Florida, where he was previously listed as a member of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago club.
He has long been a boogeyman to many New Jersey progressive Democrats, who believe he is lining their own pockets while poor residents struggle.
Norcross was a longtime advocate for southern New Jersey, often exerting influence through clandestine channels. Norcross is a longtime friend of former Senate President and current gubernatorial candidate Steve Sweeney, who played a key role in the passage of the 2013 economic tax incentive legislation. Co-defendant Philip Norcross also pleaded not guilty on Tuesday.
In addition to the Norcross brothers pleading not guilty, attorney William M. Tambussi also pleaded not guilty. Dana L. Redd, CEO of Camden Community Partners and former Camden mayor; and John J. O’Donnell, a senior executive at the development company, have pleaded not guilty.
Sidney R. Brown, chief executive of trucking and logistics company NFI, did not appear in court as his attorney represented a co-defendant in Menendez’s trial in New York, the judge said.
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