TRENTON, N.J. Eleven public officials from across New Jersey, including a mayor and two state lawmakers, were arrested Thursday in a federal corruption probe, the U.S. Attorney's office said.
Democratic state Assemblymen Mims Hackett Jr. and Alfred E. Steele were among those arrested, along with Passaic Mayor Samuel Rivera, a law enforcement official said.
The chief of staff to Newark's City Council president was also arrested, the official said, along with Passaic Councilmen Jonathan Soto and Marcellus Jackson and five Pleasantville school board members.
The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity so as not to upstage a formal announcement, said the arrests were related to insurance contracts for local governments.
The arrests were first reported Thursday by WNBC-TV in New York.
Initial court appearances were scheduled in federal court Thursday afternoon in Trenton.
The U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, Christopher J. Christie, and FBI Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun have scheduled a 3:30 p.m. news conference at the courthouse.
The arrests are the latest in an anti-corruption campaign waged by Christie's office, and mark the second major corruption roundup this year.
Two Democratic senators, Wayne Bryant of Lawnside and Sharpe James of Newark, are facing pending federal corruption charges. Both pleaded not guilty.
More than 100 public officials in the state have been convicted on federal corruption charges in the last five years.
Department of Justice. It may be a little harder to convict than usual thanks to the cloud created by Gonzales' selection of U.S. Attorneys to fire in 2006. Gives the defense lawyers plenty to work with in terms of muddying the waters.
