Dismissal

( Liam Eisenberg )

Nancy Salomon: Hey, Dead End listeners, I'm coming to you on February 27th, 2025, because there's big news about George Norcross. Remember that racketeering indictment we told you about last June? Well, it is no longer. Here's the short interview I did last night on WNYC.

Sean Carlson: It is All Things Considered on WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. A judge has dismissed all charges against George Norcross, the South New Jersey political boss who was accused of running a criminal enterprise. All the counts against the six defendants were thrown out in a sweeping case that focused on the redevelopment of the Camden waterfront, lucrative state tax breaks, and political influence over City Hall. We're joined now by WNYC's Nancy Salomon to explain all of this to us. Nancy, we got to say, this is a very complicated case. Can you just give us a quick 101 on what this is all about?

Nancy Salomon: Yes, indeed, it's complicated. The case was brought by State Attorney General Matt Platkin. The indictment alleged that George Norcross used his political at Camden City Hall to obtain very valuable property that is right across the Delaware River from downtown Philadelphia.

There was alleged extortion of two victims. One was a real estate developer, who said he was forced to give up development rights there on the waterfront. Then there was the leader of a non-profit in Camden that had to give up a valuable deal to purchase an office complex also on the waterfront. Then the Norcross machine also obtained $1.1 billion worth of state tax breaks for himself, his business partners, and other favored businesses in his orbit, but the judge didn't buy it.

Sean Carlson: Tell us about that. What did the judge say about why he dismissed the case?

Nancy Salomon: The defense attorneys for Norcross and his co-defendants had argued that there was no extortion and no other crimes committed, that all the behavior and actions taken were just part of the hard bargaining world of business. Judge Peter Warshaw agreed, basically, like 100%. He had four findings. He basically said, one, the facts laid out in the indictment didn't constitute extortion or criminal coercion; two, that there was no racketeering enterprise; three, that Camden Mayor Dana Redd did not commit official misconduct; and four, that the statute of limitations had run out. This is what the defense attorney for George Norcross, Michael Critchley, had to say about it today.

Michael Critchley: The judge saw through it clearly and in a 100-page opinion just obliterated every allegation the state had made, saying as a matter of fairness and justice, there was absolutely no crime involved here.

Sean Carlson: Nancy, you've reported on George Norcross and the Camden waterfront for a long time now. It must have been like six years.

Nancy Salomon: Yes.

Sean Carlson: You probably, better than most, are equipped to answer this question. Are you surprised by this?

Nancy Salomon: Totally surprised. I've covered the ways that George and his brother Phil Norcross held power over elected officials in Camden. Phil met every week with top officials in City Hall and basically gave a thumbs up or thumbs down to development there. The city attorney said in a deposition under oath that Phil Norcross told her to hold up progress on permits for the developer that the machine was fighting with.

I have an email that shows how the president of the state senate, Steve Sweeney, sent a list of bills to George Norcross and asked whether anything on that list bothered him before bringing these bills to a vote. Then, along with my co-reporter Jeff Pillitz, we broke stories in 2019 about the control that the Norcross brothers exerted over the state tax break program and the ways that they gamed that system.

Remember, the Norcross brothers aren't elected to anything. Obviously, I'm not a lawyer, so I'm going to have to talk to some lawyers and legal experts over the next days and weeks to really try to understand and grapple with what the judge found in this case.

Sean Carlson: Now, zooming out from this a little bit, it is really stunning, this reversal, given what's happening in New York City and the federal corruption charges that were dropped against Mayor Adams. What's the deal? I mean, is there any conclusion we can draw from this? Like, is it just harder to bring political corruption cases these days?

Nancy Salomon: It's an interesting comparison. The Adams case is federal, and by all appearances, the dropping of the case was quite political. The US Supreme Court has made it much harder to get political corruption convictions. George Norcross is a friend of Donald Trump, but the Norcross case is a state case. New Jersey has very strong anti-corruption laws, believe it or not.

Sean Carlson: [laughs]

Nancy Salomon: The attorney general says he plans to appeal the ruling, so this isn't quite over yet. We'll see if the difficulties prosecutors are having at the federal level in getting corruption convictions are going to extend to state cases as well.

Sean Carlson: Okay. Listeners, you can hear Nancy Salomon's reporting on George Norcross and the Camden waterfront on our podcast. It's called Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery. Nancy, thanks so much for talking to us.

Nancy Salomon: Thanks, Sean.

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