Mayor Cleared Of Wrongdoing In Bribery Allegation

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office will not file criminal charges in connection with a Town Council candidate's allegations that Mayor James Barberio offered him a job in January in exchange for not running for office, NJ.com reported.

On May 9, a letter from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office was sent to town Attorney John Inglesino saying a determination was made that lodging charges was not "viable" and that additional investigation was not necessary, according to NJ.com.

The Somerset prosecutor conducted an investigation into retired Parsippany Police Sgt. Louis Valori's claims after he reportedly sent his complaint to the state Attorney General's Office. The case was sent to Somerset rather than to the Morris County prosecutor, reportedly to avoid an appearance of any conflict of interest.

Valori told Patch in early March that Barberio, Inglesino and Council President Brian Stanton met on the evening of Sunday, Jan. 13 at Town Hall, which Stanton confirmed. Attendees differ on what happened: Valori alleged he was offered a $50,000 per year job handling Parsippany Police media relations in exchange for skipping the 2013 primary election. Stanton claimed that a job for Valori was discussed, but that nothing illegal took place.

An audio recording posted Monday on YourListen.com offers an apparent excerpt of a longer recording of that January Town Hall meeting, according to Valori. He told Patch that he made the recording but did not post the 1:56 excerpt online and said he sent a different portion of the tape to the Somerset County prosecutor.

The posted recording, which sounds as if it has been edited, features Barberio and Inglesino describing a potential job to Valori.

Barberio: Here's why I called you. Milin [Shah, running for council on the mayor's ticket]'s going to run with me. I think the mayor's office ought to run the whole [expletive] kit and kaboodle. I spoke to Brian and told him what the concept was. He didn't seem to have a problem with it [muffled].

Inglesino: We kinda wanted to gauge your interest. [muffled] The mayor's thought was that the job would be, it would be to work, you know, exclusively for the mayor. It would not be a civil service job....

Valori: Mm-hmm.

Inglesino: It would be a job under the municipal government...

Valori: Yep.

Inglesino: There would be a [unclear] component in public relations.

Valori: Mm-hmm.

Inglesino: For somebody like you, I don't know what that means in terms of the pension.

Valori: Yeah.

Inglesino: I expect it means nothing.

Valori: It means nothing.

Inglesino: It would be, work at the pleasure of the mayor, the person would work at the pleasure of the mayor, so it would be at will.

Valori: Yeah. 

Inglesino: Really, the point was to let you know about that and sort of gauge what your interest might be.

Valori: Okay.

Inglesino: I think the... the discussion of funding for the job would be 50.

Barberio: You've just got to let me know if you are interested in the position.

Valori: Yeah.

[sudden cut to Barberio playing guitar and singing for a brief moment]

Barberio: Louie Louie...

Valori: (laughing) You have too much time. That's why you're not answering the calls in the day, 'cause you're on the guitar.

Stanton: [muffled, then assorted joking about the mayor playing guitar]

Barberio: So the next step will be you...

Valori: Yeah.

Inglesino: It's pretty much straight, up-front, the agreement would be an employment contract. It would be at will. It is a position of loyalty to the mayor, $50,000.

Valori: Yeah.

There was no mention in the excerpt of any requirement that Valori give up the idea of running for office this year.

Valori, now a council candidate on the ticket of mayoral candidate Councilman Paul Carifi Jr., leveled his allegations against Barberio nearly two months after that recorded exchange took place. More than two weeks later, on March 20, the mayor released a statement saying he did not offer Valori a job and chalked up the man's accusations to retaliation and "insatiable greed." 

Barberio's statement accused Valori of running for office and lodging accusations for revenge because he was not given the promotion to lieutenant he requested shortly before retiring in 2012. The mayor also said Valori was avenging police Capt. James Carifi, the recently retired PPD officer and brother of the mayor's opponent, who did not receive a promotion to deputy chief.

James Carifi, who sits on the Parsippany Board of Education and is suing the town over the missed promotion, is now under a PPD internal affairs investigation for allegedly stealing confidential information from police department computers and transferring them to his personal computer. 

Inglesino said that Carifi could not be promoted to the position because he had never taken the required Civil Service Commission examination for deputy chief.

Valori told Patch he was disappointed with the investigation.

"It was clearly, grossly negligent," he said. "They're saying I'm the liar? They're lying."

Valori said he disagreed with the findings, calling the probe "a coverup at the taxpayers expense."

"This investigation was entirely inadequate," he said. "Why wasn't [Councilman Jonathan] Nelson interviewed? Why wasnt' Mr. Carifi interviewed? Why wasn't [Councilman Michael] dePierro interviewed? Why wasn't I officially notified by the Somerset County Prosecutor's office that the case was closed?"

He added that investigators told him that "nothing would come out about the investigations prior to the [June 4] election."

The Somerset County Prosecutor's Office did not respond to Patch's requests for comment.

"I will have to take this evidence to the federal U.S. Attorney's office and let them do a fair and impartial investigation," Valori said, insisting that he is not finished airing his grievance. "I have told the truth as to what occurred on Jan. 13, 2013, and all the evidence leading up to that night.

"As you can hear clearly on the tape, Mayor Barberio had offered me a job for $50,000. He clearly lied to the public by stating that he never offered me a job and never authorized anyone to offer me a job. [It] will be up to the residents of Parsippany to decide why he was lying."

Inglesino told Patch Valori "perpetrated the lie."

The attorney did not rule out taking legal action against Valori for what he called "a clear case of defamation" if the candidate does not issue an apology, NJ.com reported.

Barberio did not respond to requests for comment.