Opinion ID: 3012046
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Milan’s Crimes as a Public Official

Text: Milan was elected a member of the Camden city council on November 7, 1995, and was elected its president on January 1, 1996. On May 13, 1997, Milan was elected mayor of Camden, a position to which he was sworn in on July 1, 1997. In March 1996, Milan met Daniel Daidone, an associate of Ralph Natale, a notorious organized crime boss in Philadelphia. Natale previously had recruited Daidone and Caesar Ortiz, a Puerto-Rican businessman and electrical contractor, to manage and operate Trans-Aero, a government certified minority-owned business enterprise which was to compete for government contracts on Natale’s behalf. Correctly anticipating that Milan would be receptive to accepting kickbacks in exchange for helping Trans-Aero secure business projects in Camden, Daidone delivered an initial payment of $500 in cash to Milan, a transaction he reported to Natale. Thereafter, Daidone, acting on Natale’s behalf, continued to deliver periodic bribes to Milan (occasionally at his office in Camden City Hall) until Milan’s arrest in June 1998. All told, Milan received between $30,000 and $50,000 in cash, including a $1,433 payment toward a January 1998 Florida vacation for himself and his then fiance. Milan, in turn, did numerous favors for Natale and his organized crime associates, including lobbying on 5 their behalf to secure federally-subsidized construction contracts in a Camden empowerment zone, attempting to contact the mayor of Cherry Hill, New Jersey, to obtain a liquor license for a restaurant owned by one of Natale’s associates, and arranging a meeting between Natale’s associates and government officials presiding over Camden waterfront renovation projects.3 In addition to cash, Milan received other improper benefits during his tenure in public office. On December 16, 1996, Milan arranged to have the title of a 1990 Chevrolet Lumina Van transferred to his fiance from Nick’s Towing, an outfit which provided towing services to the City of Camden.4 Milan also obtained approximately ten months free use of a 1996 GMC Jimmy truck leased to Dominick Monaco, the owner of Nick’s Towing. On March 27, 1997, the city council of Camden awarded a contract to Nick’s Towing to provide towing services for a two-year term at a contract price not to exceed $480,000. Milan did not disclose publicly his receipt of these gifts from Nick’s Towing on his state-mandated financial disclosure statements. In June 1997, the James B. Ryan Air Conditioning Company executed a three-year contract with the City of Camden for the servicing and maintenancing of air conditioning and heating systems in various city-owned buildings. In May 1998, at Milan’s request, the company installed an air conditioning system at Milan’s personal residence. Milan did not pay for these services and did not disclose his receipt of them on his financial disclosure statements. The services, valued at $3,346, took two men six days to complete. In April 1998, a concrete recycling company, Delaware River Recycling, applied to the Camden County Solid Waste Advisory Council for a permit to operate a recycling facility. That same month, Milan asked Robert Casey, the owner of Delaware River Recycling, to do home improvement work at _________________________________________________________________ 3. The Cherry Hill mayor did nothing improper and did not support the application. 4. Nick’s effectuated the transfer through a third party. 6 Milan’s private residence. Casey obliged, sending a work crew to tear down a garage and remove a tree. Casey also paid $700 for the installation of new carpeting at Milan’s home. Milan, who did not pay for these services, wrote a letter in his official capacity on September 3, 1998, supporting the application of Delaware River Recycling. Casey forwarded the letter to the Camden County Solid Waste Advisory Council. As in the other instances we have recounted with respect to improper benefits, Milan did not disclose his receipt of these gifts from Casey. In July 1998, Milan received an estimate from R&G Home Improvement for the installation of new windows at his residence. R&G, owned and operated by Ralph Cruz Sr. and Ralph Cruz Jr., provided a figure that included costs for materials and supplies but not for labor, with the anticipation that Milan in turn would take the necessary steps to expedite payments owed to R&G for work it had done for the City of Camden. Sure enough, on August 14, 1998 (five days after R&G submitted its estimate), Milan arranged a meeting among himself, Ralph Cruz Sr., Ralph Cruz Jr., and the director of the Camden Housing Services Department to discuss the unpaid bills. From September until December 1998, R&G installed approximately 25 new windows at Milan’s home without charging Milan for the $1,800 in labor costs it incurred. Milan abused his public office in other, more creative ways. In April 1997, he established with the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission a Joint Candidates Committee (JCC) to raise campaign funds for three city council candidates politically affiliated with him. Milan installed his aide, Milton Bradley, as JCC treasurer. Milan later informed Bradley that he and several of his political supporters would be taking a celebratory vacation to Puerto Rico after the May 1997 city council elections. He then directed Bradley to finance the trip with funds from the JCC. Milan and Bradley devised a scheme to disguise the disbursement as a legitimate business expense for the JCC. They asked Mark Willis, the owner of the Camden office building in which Milan’s mayoral campaign headquarters was located, to draft a fake lease to demonstrate that monthly lease payments were due from Milan’s campaign 7 even though Milan’s campaign was using Willis’s office space without charge. On May 1, 1997, flights and hotel reservations for this trip were booked through a travel agency for 15 people, including Milan and his fiance. The group vacationed in Puerto Rico from May 16 to May 20, 1997, with expenses charged on the personal American Express account of a Camden attorney. Upon his return, Milan had Bradley draw a check for $7,500 on the JCC bank account payable to Willis’s management company. On June 4, Willis deposited the check into his corporate bank account and, through a series of transactions with third parties, obtained $7,500 in cash proceeds from the check. On June 12, Willis gave $5,000 to Bradley and $2,500 to Milan. Bradley, in turn, gave the $5,000 to the attorney as a partial repayment for vacation expenses. As a public official, Milan was required under New Jersey state law to complete an annual financial disclosure statement detailing his business interests and sources of income. Milan completed, signed, and mailed those forms in 1997, 1998, and 1999, but, as we have indicated, failed to mention his receipt of the benefits we have described.