Samuel Rivera (1946 – May 1, 2020) was an American politician, the Democratic mayor of the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

city of Passaic, New Jersey, from 2001 until 2008. Rivera came to national attention on September 6, 2007, when he was

indicted An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of ...

and arrested on charges of accepting bribes in exchange for agreeing to direct municipal contracts to an insurance broker acting as a cooperating witness. Rivera pleaded guilty to attempted

extortion Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

, stepped down as mayor, and was sentenced to 21 months in prison.Former Passaic mayor sentenced to 21 months
/ref> He was succeeded in office by

Gary Schaer Gary Steven Schaer (born September 11, 1951) is an American Democratic Party politician who serves in the New Jersey General Assembly where he represents the 36th Legislative District. He took office on January 10, 2006, and remains on the P ...

Early life

Rivera began his career by joining the Passaic Police Department in 1968. In 1970, Rivera was brought up on police brutality charges. He avoided trial by resigning and returning to

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...

, where he became a police officer as well with the

Puerto Rico Police Department The Puerto Rico Police Department ( es, Policía de Puerto Rico), officially the Puerto Rico Police Bureau, is a law enforcement agency with jurisdiction over the entire Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. It is a division of the Puerto Rico Department ...

. There, his law enforcement career ended when he was convicted of a felony and sentenced to either two or three years

probation Probation in criminal law is a period of supervision over an offender, ordered by the court often in lieu of incarceration. In some jurisdictions, the term ''probation'' applies only to community sentences (alternatives to incarceration), such ...

for offenses including admittedly slashing himself to simulate having been attacked in order to protect his partner, who killed a narcotics suspect. Rivera returned to Passaic in 1981 and became a private investigator.

Political career

Rivera ran for Passaic City Council in 1993 and 1995, losing both times. Later in 1995 he won a special election to the Council by 11 votes. He then ran a losing campaign for mayor in 1997, and then again in 2001, winning the race. New Jersey Governor

Donald DiFrancesco Donald Thomas DiFrancesco (born November 20, 1944) is a retired American politician who served as the 51st governor of New Jersey from 2001 to 2002. He succeeded Christine Todd Whitman after her resignation to become Administrator of the Enviro ...

attempted to prevent Rivera from taking office due to his status as a Puerto Rican felon, but Superior Court judge Robert Passero allowed Rivera to be sworn in, finding that the state had failed to prove that Rivera's crime was a crime of " moral turpitude". Rivera was a member of

Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition Everytown for Gun Safety is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun control and against gun violence. Everytown was created in 2013 when Mayors Against Illegal Guns and Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America joined forc ...

and, when he served as mayor, was a member of

Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton ( Rodham; born October 26, 1947) is an American politician, diplomat, and former lawyer who served as the 67th United States Secretary of State for President Barack Obama from 2009 to 2013, as a United States sen ...

's Mayors Council and National Hispanic Leadership Council. During the course of his tenure as mayor, Rivera had the City Council nearly triple his salary from $40,000 to $117,000.

Indictment and felony conviction

On September 6, 2007, the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

arrested 11 public officials and one civilian after a year-and-a-half long corruption investigation yielded grand jury

indictment An indictment ( ) is a formal accusation that a person has committed a crime. In jurisdictions that use the concept of felonies, the most serious criminal offence is a felony; jurisdictions that do not use the felonies concept often use that of a ...

s, against Rivera and other elected officials, including

Assembly Assembly may refer to: Organisations and meetings * Deliberative assembly, a gathering of members who use parliamentary procedure for making decisions * General assembly, an official meeting of the members of an organization or of their representa ...

members Mims Hackett and Alfred E. Steele. Rivera was indicted for demanding and accepting money from John D'Angelo, an insurance broker acting as a cooperating witness for the FBI. D'Angelo pretended to be trying to get insurance coverage contracts from the City of Passaic. The indictment alleges that Rivera accepted a $5,000 bribe to steer insurance business with the City of Passaic and with the Passaic Valley Water Commission, bragging that "I can get four votes easy, easy, easy," to a witness about his ability to obtain approval from the Passaic City Council. After appearing in front of a

magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

in Trenton and posting bail, Rivera resumed his duties the following day, Friday, September 7. State law permits elected officials to retain their offices even after they are convicted and sentenced; they can only be removed if they are formally impeached. Rivera had stated that he did not intend to resign. Nevertheless, he pleaded guilty to attempted extortion and resigned on May 9, 2008. In 2008, Rivera was sentenced to 21 months in prison. After serving 16 months at a Federal prison in Ohio, Rivera was transferred to a halfway house in New York, to serve the remainder of his 21-month felony sentence.

Personal

Rivera was born on a

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

farm into a family of 14 children, where he lived until he moved to Passaic in 1963. Shortly thereafter, at age 17, he dropped out of 11th grade and married for the first time. Rivera suffered five strokes and married four times. He died at the age of 73 on May 1, 2020.

Sources

The criminal complaint against Rivera

United States Department of Justice The United States Department of Justice (DOJ), also known as the Justice Department, is a federal executive department of the United States government tasked with the enforcement of federal law and administration of justice in the United Stat ...

, September 5, 2007.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivera, Samuel 1946 births 2020 deaths American politicians of Puerto Rican descent People from Cayey, Puerto Rico Politicians convicted of extortion under color of official right 21st-century American criminals American prisoners and detainees Puerto Rican people in New Jersey politics Hispanic and Latino American mayors in New Jersey Hispanic and Latino American politicians Mayors of Passaic, New Jersey New Jersey city council members New Jersey politicians convicted of crimes Puerto Rican law enforcement personnel Puerto Rican police officers New Jersey Democrats