Atlantic City Mayor, 12 Others Arrested on Corruption Charges

Mayor James L. Usry, a reformist candidate swept into office on the heels of a political corruption scandal, was arrested Thursday on charges of bribery, conspiracy and official misconduct.

Twelve other people, including the City Council president, the chairman of the zoning board and the former housing authority director, also were arrested after an investigation that one official said showed this seaside resort was “up for sale.”

“Our investigation uncovered the deplorable circumstances in which corruption has reached the highest levels of Atlantic City municipal government,” the state police superintendent, Col. Clinton L. Pagano, said at a news conference.

Usry, 67, a former Harlem Globetrotter and city teacher, was elected mayor five years ago after his predecessor was implicated in an influence-peddling scandal and lost a recall election. Usry is also president of the National Conference of Black Mayors.

State Atty. Gen. Peter Perretti Jr. said none of the charges or investigations against Usry and the other city officials involve the casino industry.

A criminal complaint against the suspects, including a 14th person not yet arrested, alleged five separate but overlapping conspiracies. Among them was an attempt to gain control of a lucrative Boardwalk electric cart business and a gift shop franchise at the Atlantic City International Airport.

Usry was charged with bribery, conspiracy, official misconduct and accepting unlawful gifts.

The Republican mayor said nothing in court during a bail hearing; neither he nor his attorney acknowledged reporters’ questions afterward. Usry and the other city officials were released on their own recognizance.

Grand Jury Bound

The city officials do not have to forfeit their offices on the basis of a criminal complaint, Perretti said. Attorneys from the state Division of Criminal Justice are expected to present a case to a state grand jury within several weeks.

Before state police began their roundup Thursday morning, they first went to Usry’s home with a search warrant. Police confiscated $6,000 in cash, alleged to be conspiracy money, Pagano said.

The arrests resulted from an investigation that began in November, prompted by a complaint by Atlantic City businessman Albert Black, the attorney general said. Black said some city officials had demanded a bribe from him to get a business proposal approved by the zoning board.