WAYNE PARRY, Associated Press
- As one notorious Atlantic City corruption case nears its end, with its former “Missing Mayor” due to learn his sentence for scamming the federal government out of increased veterans benefits, another one is heating up.
Former mayor Robert Levy is due to be sentenced Friday morning in U.S. District Court for lying about the extent of his Vietnam War service in order to obtain additional veterans benefits.
But as his case winds down, another corruption case is raising tempers here. In the latest scandal, some claim that a white City Councilman is being treated more leniently than his black co-defendants in a sex video blackmail case.
City Councilman John Schultz is one of several defendants charged in a November 2006 blackmail attempt against a council colleague, Eugene Robinson, who was lured to a motel room and secretly filmed having sex with a prostitute in an attempt to force him to resign.
Robinson refused, and contacted authorities.
Schultz was accused of referring former Council President Craig Callaway _ who had already pleaded guilty to unrelated bribery charges and was awaiting what would become a 40-month prison sentence _ to someone who could help him edit the videotape. Two of Callaway’s brothers, Ronald and David, as well as close friend Floyd Tally, are also charged in the case.
Schultz has applied to enter the state’s pretrial intervention program, which lets nonviolent first-time offenders to complete a period of supervision while avoiding a criminal conviction.
Prosecutors offered to let Craig Callaway plead guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit invasion of privacy, and be sentenced to as long as four years in prison _ a deal he rejected.
If accepted into the program, Schultz would not be required to forfeit his council seat.
That has infuriated not only the black co-defendants, but also many in the predominantly black city.
“Everyone else in the case of African-American descent is being treated differently,” said Steve Young, an official with the local NAACP. “It shouldn’t matter how much you pay your lawyer or what color you are: right is right, and wrong is wrong. This is selective prosecution of African-Americans in our community, and it’s a slap in our face.”
During several court appearances, David and Ronald Callaway have loudly protested having to stand in the courtroom and be photographed by the media while Schultz was not required to be present.
Schultz did not return a call left at his City Hall office. His lawyer, Edwin Jacobs, would not discuss specifics of the case.
“We’re not going to try John’s case in the newspapers or in the media,” he said. “The matter will be resolved through the court system in due course.”
Robinson’s lawyer, Joseph Levin, wrote to state and federal prosecutors, objecting to the way Schultz’s case is being handled. He cited the cases of a former Atlantic City school board president and a city public works official who were required to step down from their jobs after pleading guilty or being convicted of crimes.
“What is the difference between those defendants and Councilman Schultz’s present situation?” Levin wrote. “Sadly, the only perceivable difference is that the above defendants are African-American, whereas Councilman Schultz is white. That is the perception. … Such perception is a crushing blow to those of us who still believe that justice is blind.”
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press Thursday afternoon that it has not decided whether to accept Schultz into the pretrial intervention program, and denied that race has anything to do with how the case is being handled.
