Former Newark deputy mayor sentenced to federal prison in cash-for-land bribery scheme
The investigation uncovered extensive phone records where collection of money was coordinated.
A former high-ranking Newark official who once oversaw the city's economic and housing development has been sentenced to prison for his role in a corrupt pay-to-play scheme involving cash kickbacks and luxury jewelry.
Carmelo Garcia, 51, was sentenced on Wednesday to 12 months and one day in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Garcia previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to defraud the City of Newark, honest services wire fraud, and receiving bribes.
According to court documents and statements made in court, the corrupt scheme spanned from at least 2017 through April 2019. During this time, Garcia served as Newark’s Deputy Mayor, Director of the Newark Department of Economic and Housing Development, and Executive Vice President of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation.
Federal prosecutors revealed that Garcia used his immense official influence to help two prominent Newark business owners, Frank Valvano, Jr. and Irwin Sablosky, acquire and redevelop lucrative city-owned properties. In exchange, Garcia sought and received substantial cash payments and high-end jewelry, including multiple luxury watches and chains from a pawnbroker and jewelry business owned by the pair.
The investigation uncovered extensive phone records and text messages where Garcia personally coordinated the collection of the money. In one June 2018 encounter, Garcia—while serving as the city’s Acting Deputy Mayor—met an intermediary in the restroom of a New Jersey restaurant to covertly accept an envelope stuffed with $25,000 in cash supplied by Valvano.
In exchange for the kickbacks, Garcia secured preliminary designation letters and Newark-approved redevelopment agreements for Valvano and Sablosky, ensuring city power was used to advance their real estate interests rather than protect the public trust.
Garcia was originally indicted alongside his co-conspirators in October 2021. Valvano, 57, of Florham Park, and Sablosky, 66, of Springfield, both previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery, and both have already been sentenced.
