NEWARK, N.J. (AP) – This week’s federal trial of a former Democratic powerbroker is expected to shed light on the maneuvering behind a multibillion-dollar megamall project that has languished for more than a decade at New Jersey’s Meadowlands sports complex.
Now known as American Dream Meadowlands, the sprawling project was known as Xanadu in the early 2000s when, federal prosecutors contend, Joseph Ferriero used his position as head of the Bergen County Democratic Organization to squeeze nearly $2 million out of a Virginia-based developer in exchange for his political influence.
Ferriero is charged with racketeering, conspiracy, bribery, mail fraud and wire fraud. Opening statements in U.S. District Court are expected to begin Thursday.
In court filings, Ferriero’s attorney, Michael Baldassare, has argued that Ferriero made his living as an attorney, consultant and businessman and “exercised his prerogative to engage in political speech” by holding the unpaid, volunteer position with the Bergen County Democratic Organization. The indictment “never alleges that any of the activities were connected to the affairs of the BCDO,” Baldassare wrote.
The case against Ferriero extends beyond Xanadu to include municipal contracts from which he is accused of receiving kickbacks. However, revelations about the mall project surfaced this month after the release of secret grand jury testimony from 2008 from James Dausch, a former executive of Mills Corp., the Virginia-based real estate company that won the original bid to build Xanadu.