Ex-mayor, former mistress guilty of corruption

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Former Mayor Sharpe James and his ex-mistress were convicted Wednesday of corruption charges centered on her cut-rate purchase of city land. The verdicts were a stunning rebuke to James, who was mayor of the state’s largest city for 20 years and took credit for redevelopment that included a pro hockey arena.

James, 72, was convicted of all five charges he faced, including fraud and conspiracy.

His former girlfriend, Tamika Riley, 39, was convicted of those charges and eight others, including evading taxes and cheating to obtain subsidized housing assistance for herself. Riley was a publicist who once ran a clothing boutique near City Hall. James was mayor from 1986 to 2006 and also a state senator from 1999 to January 2008.

Prosecutors charged that James abused his office and betrayed his constituents by arranging for the sale of nine city-owned properties.

for $46,000 to Riley from 2001 to 2005. Riley quickly sold them for $665,000 without starting required rehabilitation work on most of them, prosecutors said.