Former Fire Marshal for Monmouth County Admits Accepting Bribe

NEWARK - The former fire marshal for Monmouth County pleaded guilty today to accepting and agreeing to accept a bribe payment, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Patsy R. Townsend, 58, of Neptune, who was also the emergency management and code enforcement official in Neptune, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to a one-count Information charging him with attempting to commit extortion under color of official right by accepting a cash payment in exchange for using his official position to assist others in obtaining work in Monmouth County.

At his plea hearing, Townsend admitted that, during his tenure as the fire marshal in Monmouth County, he accepted a cash payment of $1,000 on Nov. 1, 2004 from an undercover FBI agent, to reward him for his agreement to help with obtaining emergency demolition contracts in Monmouth County. Townsend stated that he accepted the payment believing that the undercover agent was an employee of a business involved in demolition and site work. Townsend also admitted that he accepted the cash payment knowing that the payment was intended to reward him for helping the undercover agent's purported company to obtain emergency demolition work throughout Monmouth County.

The charge to which Townsend pleaded guilty carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000. Judge Martini scheduled sentencing for June 22. Townsend remains free on a $50,000 personal recognizance bond pending sentencing.

The guilty plea of Townsend arises from Operation Bid Rig, the same investigation which led to charges being filed against 15 officials in February and March of this year, including the mayors of Hazlet, West Long Branch and Keyport, as well as councilmen from Asbury Park, Far Hills, Keyport, Neptune Township, Middletown and West Long Branch.

Townsend and others were recorded on video and audio tape in discussions with a cooperating witness and undercover FBI agents whom they believed were employees of the cooperating witness, and who were purportedly involved in the laundering of loansharking proceeds as well as paying off local officials. In some cases, the defendants, the cooperating witness and undercover agents were recorded interacting with various named and unnamed Monmouth County public officials, according to criminal Complaints.

In determining an actual sentence, however, Judge Martini will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, the defendant's criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI's Red Bank Resident Agency, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Leslie Wiser, Jr. in Newark, for their work in the ongoing Monmouth County corruption investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Marc Larkins, the Chief of the Government Fraud Unit, and Mark J. McCarren, the Chief of the Public Protection Unit.

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Defense Counsel: Charles J. Uliano, Esq., West Long Branch