Louis Manzo (born February 28, 1955, in

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking, a ...

who served in the

New Jersey General Assembly The New Jersey General Assembly is the lower house of the New Jersey Legislature. Since the election of 1967 (1968 Session), the Assembly has consisted of 80 members. Two members are elected from each of New Jersey's 40 legislative districts for ...

from 2004 to 2008, where he represented the 31st legislative district, and who ran unsuccessfully for

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

Jersey City, New Jersey Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

from

Jersey City State College New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, and known as Jersey City State College for 40 years of its history, New Jersey City University consists of the School of Business, ...

in health education. He began his career as a sanitarian with the

Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.Jersey City Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.State Senate A state legislature in the United States is the legislative body of any of the 50 U.S. states. The formal name varies from state to state. In 27 states, the legislature is simply called the ''Legislature'' or the ''State Legislature'', whil ...

Sandra Bolden Cunningham Sandra Bolden Cunningham (born September 4, 1950) is an American Democratic Party politician, who has been serving in the New Jersey State Senate since 2007, where she represents the 31st Legislative District. She was sworn into office on Novem ...

2009 race for Mayor of Jersey City

In December 2008, Manzo announced that he would wage an uphill campaign for mayor of Jersey City against incumbent Mayor

Jerramiah Healy Jerramiah T. Healy (born December 16, 1950) is a New Jersey-based politician who served as the 48th mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey serving from 2004 to 2013. He ran for the unexpired term of the late Glenn D. Cunningham and was elected in Novem ...

. Though finishing in second place in a field of five candidates, Manzo was unable to force a runoff against Healy. Manzo won 26% of the vote, compared to 53% for Healy.

Arrest on corruption charges

Manzo was one of 44 people arrested on July 23, 2009, as part of

Operation Bid Rig Operation Bid Rig was a long-term investigation into political corruption in New Jersey conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Internal Revenue Service, and the United States Attorney for the District of New Jersey from 2002 to 2014 ...

, a joint operation of the FBI, IRS, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey into corruption and money laundering. Manzo was charged with taking $27,500 in corrupt cash payments for use in his failed Jersey City mayoral campaign. Manzo was charged with two counts of extortion under the federal

Hobbs Act The Hobbs Act, named after United States Representative Sam Hobbs ( D- AL) and codified at , is a United States federal law enacted in 1946 that provides: Section 1951 also proscribes conspiracy to commit robbery or extortion without referen ...

, but in May 2010, U.S. District Court Judge

Jose L. Linares Jose L. Linares (born November 30, 1953) is a former United States district judge of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, and the former Chief Judge of that same Court from 2017 to 2019. In May 2019, he resigned as Ch ...

dismissed the charges, ruling that the act only applies to elected officials. Manzo then faced two counts of violating the

Travel Act The Travel Act or International Travel Act of 1961, , is a Federal criminal statute which forbids the use of the U.S. mail, or interstate or foreign travel, for the purpose of engaging in certain specified criminal acts. The Senate legislation w ...

, charging him with crossing state lines to commit a crime, and two counts of failing to report to authorities that others were collecting bribes. On February 17, 2012, all remaining charges against Manzo were dismissed by Linares. Manzo filed suit to have his legal costs reimbursed by the government, but a court denied his claim.

Author

The book ''Ruthless Ambition: The Rise and Fall of Chris Christie'' authored by Manzo was released in April 2014.

References

External links

New Jersey Voter Information Website 2003

New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure form for 2004 (PDF)

New Jersey Legislature financial disclosure form for 2005 (PDF)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manzo, Louis 1955 births Living people New Jersey Democrats New Jersey City University alumni Politicians from Jersey City, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni Operation Bid Rig 21st-century American politicians