Crooked contractor's effusive apology and his history as FBI ally move judge to leniency
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
BY JOHN P. MARTIN
Star-Ledger Staff Jerry Free, the Tennessee contractor who bribed officials statewide, then helped the FBI build cases against targets in New Jersey and Georgia, was sentenced yesterday to six months of house arrest and three years' probation.
With his bear-sized frame, white hair, ruddy cheeks and irrepressible gift for gab and gimmicks, Free had become an unforgettable figure in New Jersey corruption lore. Those same qualities made him a cooperating informant of equal renown and apparently swayed the judge to go easy on him.
Senior U.S. Judge William Bassler, sitting in Newark, acknowledged that he initially planned to imprison Free, whose graft he said was "like a virus, mutating itself through the whole state."
But then prosecutors explained how Free voluntarily aided investigations in several states, and Free's attorney talked about his charity work and lack of criminal record. Free himself, professing to be "a little nervous," then read a lengthy handwritten statement about his crimes, his loss and his remorse.
Together, it was enough to persuade Bassler, who had sentenced some of the public officials Free paid off, to soften his stance.
"To reduce corruption by public officials, you need the cooperation of the people who do the corrupting," Bassler said.
Free faced up to 30 months in prison under federal sentencing guidelines. His attorney, Michael Washor, had warned his client to expect jail but instead found himself praising the sentence as justice served. It stood in stark contrast to the 41-month prison term that former Hudson County Executive Robert Janiszewski -- another notable cooperator, but also an elected official -- received last month despite similar pleas of leniency by prosecutors.
In his first public remarks since pleading guilty in 2001, Free told the judge that he has spent four years trying to make amends for his crimes and his reputation as a corrupt businessman-turned-informant.
"All I want to do is get this tattoo removed from my forehead and get on with my life," he said. "I think I have given back 110 percent to the FBI, U.S. Attorney's Offices and Antitrust Division."
Free was the chief salesman for United Gunite Construction Inc., a sewer-repair firm that won millions of dollars in no-bid government contracts throughout New Jersey in the 1990s.
His unexpected plea in 2001 to bribery charges sent shock waves through the state. Investigators revealed that he had been secretly cooperating with the FBI for nearly a year, recording more than 100 conversations with potential subjects throughout New Jersey. About 20 public figures received letters warning that they had been intercepted on the Free tapes.
Ultimately, Free's cooperation led to eight convictions and prison terms for former Paterson Mayor Martin Barnes, former Essex County Executive James Treffinger and former Camden sewer superintendent Robert Gibson.
Prosecutors pointed to that assistance yesterday in lobbying the judge to depart from the sentencing guidelines and cut Free a break.
"If Mr. Free was a virus, then it was the body politic -- in the form of these corrupt officials -- who was a willing host," Assistant U.S. Attorney Nelson Thayer argued. "All of these public officials could have done something to cure that virus. ... They chose not to. Mr. Free made a different choice."
It was Free's cooperation after he left New Jersey that particularly impressed the judge. Free met with antitrust prosecutors in Philadelphia and Atlanta. And, working with the FBI in Georgia, Free posed as a corrupt contractor there willing to pay bribes for contracts. The ensuing chain of cases culminated last fall with the indictment of former Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell on corruption charges.
"He volunteered -- and nine city officials were arrested as a result of the domino effect of what Jerry Free did," Washor told the judge.
Free argued that the virus of graft that plagued New Jersey was active long before he arrived.
"I was solicited all the time by e-mails, faxes, requests, things charged to me," he said. "These individuals, I did not have to give them the virus."
Free said he lost his New Jersey home and his wife and has since tried to start a new life in Florida. He lives near Orlando, where he tried to produce a television show, has dabbled in real estate, and hawks novelty ice cubes that glow in the dark. He turned 66 Tuesday.
"I do not think my future is over," he told the judge. "I made the wrong turn in the past. I assure I will make the hard right turn if ever asked to make a decision again."
The sentence means Free must wear an electronic ankle bracelet and remain in his home, except for work and other approved exceptions, for six months. The judge also imposed a $30,000 fine and $5,000 restitution.
Washor wouldn't discuss Free's current occupation after the hearing, except to say "struggling." But he asked the judge if Free could be allowed under the terms of his house arrest to attend work-related conventions next month in Kentucky and Tennessee.
Bassler agreed. The judge reminded Free that he was lucky: "I've given you an opportunity. I could have just as easily sent you off packing to a federal prison."
Free declined to comment after the hearing. Instead, he quickly ducked into a courthouse elevator and disappeared behind its doors.
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