N.B. resident sentenced for extorting payments
Former N. B. clerk gets five months in halfway house and house arrest
BY JENNIFER AMATO Staff Writer

NEWARK - A North Brunswick resident who was employed as a supervisory clerk for the city of New Brunswick was sentenced to five months in a halfway house and five months of house arrest for extorting corrupt payments last year.

Linda Carol Roach, 55, was charged with soliciting and accepting more than $3,000 in corrupt payments in exchange for exercising her official influence in favor of two construction companies who were doing rehabilitation work in New Brunswick. She was arrested on May 24 and pleaded guilty on July 27 to a criminal complaint by special agents of the FBI and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Inspector General.

On Friday, she was sentenced to five months in a community corrections center, to be chosen by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, and upon completion, an additional five months under house arrest with an electronic monitor, according to Michael Drewniak, the public affairs officer for the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark. She will report for her sentence on Feb. 1.

Roach had admitted to using her influence to accelerate payments of rehabilitation contract money to Friendly Maintenance of New Brunswick and Taj Maintenance of Perth Amboy while she worked in New Brunswick's Department of Community Planning and Economic Development from January 2004 to September 2006, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. In her role as an office manager, she was responsible for processing purchase orders necessary for securing payments to contractors for rehabilitation work they performed.

Roach had previously admitted to receiving regular payments of $100 to $150 from both companies on Oct. 25, 2006. Banking records confirm the cashing of checks and records obtained from the city of New Brunswick reflect timely processed paperwork on Roach's behalf, according to the release.

She faced a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Several other parties have already been charged and have pleaded guilty to their involvement in the situation. Prakash George Karat, 37, of Perth Amboy, a manager of T.M., and George Thomas, 38, of New York City, a co-owner of the company, admitted to giving benefits to multiple employees of the Department of Community Planning. Richard Kaplan, 57, of New Brunswick, a former rehabilitation construction inspector and assistant zoning officer for New Brunswick, admitted to receiving regular corrupt payments and discounted work from contractors on a home he owned in exchange for expedited and lenient inspections. Joseph McNulty, 42, of North Brunswick, and Sam K. John, 48, of Sayreville, who co-own F.M., admitted to offering benefits to the New Brunswick development department.

William Walker, 34, of Pennsauken, a former director of housing rehabilitation for New Brunswick, was charged in a 54-count indictment with extorting and accepting approximately $112,500 in corrupt cash payments and receiving discounted home improvement rates in exchange for official favors. He pleaded not guilty and is awaiting trial, facing a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each charge of extortion, 10 years for each count of bribery and five years for a charge of conspiracy to solicit and accept corrupt payments. Each count carries a $250,000 fine.

Special agents of the FBI's Franklin Township Resident Agency, investigators from the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office and members of the New Brunswick Police Department assisted in the investigation.