Ethical Wrongdoing Complaint Against Mayor Denied

Local Finance Board rules James Barberio's plea for friend's son was a 'personal letter.'

Mayor James Barberio was not out of line to send a letter to a Superior Court judge asking for leniency in a drug case involving the son of a friend last year, according to a ruling from the state Department of Community Affairs' Local Finance Board in response to a complaint lodged against Parsippany's chief executive. The body, however, failed to address the mayor's use of official township letterhead for what the LFB characterized in its denial to the complainant as "a personal letter." The issue arose in October 2011, when Barberio wrote a letter on behalf of his friend's son, Daniel Moses, who awaited sentencing after his guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to distribute eight pounds of marijuana.  Moses, then 26, ultimately was …

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