Party boss George Norcross' indictment details a web of corruption across South Jersey

The indictment of South Jersey political boss George Norcross provides new evidence of how he wielded political power in Camden, creating a patronage pipeline that placed his allies in well-paying, influential jobs.

George Norcross, his brother Philip, former Camden Mayor Dana Redd, and three others are charged with running a criminal enterprise that used political power to steal property and development rights along the Camden waterfront from the rightful owners.

Prosecutors say Norcross' scheme, which earned him tens of millions of dollars, began in 2012. He allegedly pulled it off by shuffling his allies among an assortment of leadership roles in nonprofits, development corporations, universities and hospitals – all to the party boss's benefit. Taken as a whole, the allegations in the indictment show how Norcross' closest confidants were rewarded with lucrative jobs as he tightened his stranglehold on Camden's development.

Many key players in Norcross' alleged scheme are not named in the 111-page indictment, which refers to them anonymously using legal jargon like "CC-1" (for co-conspirator) or "Individual-1." But details in the document, including their job descriptions and resumes, leave no doubt about their identities.

Many of those allies remained in their jobs when the indictment was unsealed in June, with responsibilities that include the country's largest public works project, running a major Camden hospital and the expansion of Rutgers University's Camden campus.

Norcross has long argued that his involvement in Camden has greatly improved New Jersey's poorest city. He has replaced public schools with charters, moved the jurisdiction of policing to Camden County and helped create state tax breaks designed to lure investors.

"Most people in this state and in this country believe that the city of Camden has turned the corner," Norcross told reporters after the indictment was announced, listing visits to the city by New Jersey governors and President Barack Obama as evidence that his work was not criminal, but respected.

"We were America's most dangerous city and poorest city. And a lot of people had the courage to decide to come to the city of Camden," Norcross said. "And we decided that we were going to put our money where our mouth was and be part of turning an American city around and make it proud again."

But Camden residents are still struggling despite the programs and buildings Norcross brought to the city, which has a median income of $37,075. Nearly a third of its residents live below the poverty line, according to census data. Many residents and community activists say Camden is made up of two cities: those who work with the Norcross machine and get jobs, political appointments and grants for their organizations, and everybody else.

"The problem I had with Mr. Norcross was none of the organizations or individuals who were doing great work were ever supported," said Keith Benson, a prominent lifelong Camden resident, Grammy-winning drummer, and fellow at Harvard University. "It always seemed like people who were aligned with his interests got the support that was supposed to come to the city for those who needed it."

In a press release, state Attorney General Matthew Platkin alleges Norcross was the leader of "a group of unelected, private businessmen" who "weaponized" politics and government. Key episodes cited in the case show how Norcross allegedly controlled an elaborate system of employment that rewarded loyalty and furthered his interest in acquiring property along the Delaware River.

The Norcross brothers and Redd have pleaded not guilty. They did not respond to inquiries.

How "friends" of Norcross' secured a waterfront development

At the center of the indictment is Cooper's Ferry Partnership, a nonprofit economic development organization that works closely with Camden city officials to recruit new businesses and fund improvement projects. In 2014, George Norcross and his brother, Philip Norcross, hijacked a deal to purchase a waterfront office complex, strong-arming the nonprofit's leaders to hand development rights over to their preferred developers, according to the indictment.

"This is for our friends," George Norcross allegedly declared in a private meeting, referring to tax incentives tied to the project.

Prosecutors detail how Norcross' allies allegedly played a key role steering the deal to his advantage by squashing dissent.

Cooper's Ferry Partnership CEO Anthony Perno and Cooper's Ferry board chair John Sheridan were on the receiving end of much of that pressure. Perno and Sheridan had picked a developer for the project who they believed offered the best deal for the organization. Norcross had someone else in mind.

Norcross did not have an official role with Cooper's Ferry at the time. But he had built New Jersey's most powerful political machine over 30 years. That political operation was highly effective at getting its candidates elected and then keeping them in line when voting on issues that Norcross and his brother cared about, such as economic development and the hospital and health insurance industries. The indictment alleges that Norcross' dominance was not limited to politics and government, but also extended to nonprofits like Cooper's Ferry.

In the spring of 2014, Sheridan told others that he was getting "push back" about Cooper's Ferry's preferred developer and that Norcross was angry, prosecutors said. Perno, meanwhile, wrote in an email that the competing offer from Norcross' favored developer was a "false choice."

Perno also sought help from Redd, the mayor of Camden, and her chief of staff, with navigating the deal. But prosecutors say Redd took a hands-off approach to the important development, telling Perno, "he had to deal with Philip A. Norcross, who had no formal role with CFP or the City, to resolve it," the indictment states.

Redd also allegedly warned Perno that his job was in jeopardy if he did not hand the deal over to the Norcross' preferred developers, who prosecutors say had business ties to the South Jersey political boss and donated to his political action committee.

By May 2014, Sheridan and Perno were falling in line. Emails obtained by WNYC show Sheridan and Perno offering to sell the Cooper's Ferry purchase agreement to the Norcross-allied developers.

In September 2014, three months before the deal closed, Sheridan and his wife were found stabbed to death in the bedroom of their home, which had been set on fire. The case, which has never been solved, was detailed in the WNYC podcast, " Dead End: A New Jersey Political Murder Mystery. "

After Sheridan's death, Perno had lost a key ally on the board who supported him and the financial health of Cooper's Ferry Partnership. Susan Bass Levin was appointed chair of the nonprofit, taking Sheridan's position. The move proved critical to the development deal closing in Norcross' favor, according to the indictment.

Bass Levin was CEO of the Cooper Foundation, a charity created by the Norcross family to support Cooper University Hospital. Bass Levin had also coordinated Norcross' plans for the Camden City School District, according to emails obtained by Gothamist, despite neither of them holding an official position with the district. Bass Levin, who is referenced in the indictment as an unindicted co-conspirator, helped close the deal, fending off Perno's complaints that the development deal was getting worse for Cooper's Ferry.

In December 2014, the deal was sold to the Norcross-allied developers, Ira Lubert, a Philadelphia real estate investor and George Norcross' onetime business partner, and Howard Needleman, a South Jersey landlord who leased space to Cooper University Hospital.

The new owners obtained the property for $20 million less than its assessed value.

Cooper's Ferry Partnership never recouped all of the $450,000 it had spent to acquire the property, according to the indictment.

Make way for the mayor

By late 2017, the takeover of Cooper's Ferry Partnership's board, which had begun with Bass Levin's appointment as chair, was nearly complete. Several business and political associates of Norcross were now on the board, including his brother Phil. The non-profit would become a pipeline for highly paid allies of Norcross.

But first, Bass Levin needed to get rid of Perno, who had been on Norcross' bad side for years. In a recorded call cited in the indictment, Perno tried to negotiate a severance package with Bass Levin, suggesting she use the board to give her political cover. She wasn't having it.

"It doesn't give me cover with George," Bass Levin told Perno. "You can't go there. You don't want that fight. Believe me when I tell you. If you don't think that he can't get to anybody he wants to, you're kidding yourself."

If Perno didn't resign, Bass Levin allegedly told Perno, "they" would just make something up about him.

But as Bass Levin repeatedly pressured Perno, in December 2017 she also allegedly let slip her plans for Cooper's Ferry going forward.

Camden's mayor was about to be looking for a job. Bass Levin said that "Redd needed a place to go as her term as mayor was ending," according to the indictment.

She also told Perno that Norcross "feels that he can make a decision about everything."

But getting Redd a job would require some shuffling.

First, Perno resigned, giving in to Bass Levin's threats, prosecutors say. Perno gave up a $241,500 annual salary and, because he resigned, a year's salary in severance pay. He's described in the indictment as a victim of an extortion scheme.

Perno's resignation made way for Kris Kolluri to become the CEO of Cooper's Ferry in January 2018. Kolluri had a background in transit, politics and deep ties to Norcross.

Before Kolluri took the new job at Cooper's Ferry that paid him $424,323, according to public tax filings, he had to resign from his previous position as CEO of the Rowan University-Rutgers Camden Board of Governors.

Redd, the outgoing mayor, would take over that vacancy at the Board of Governors.

This executive suite game of musical chairs was the realization of a plan Norcross had apparently considered for years, according to an email obtained by WNYC. The party boss had been angry as far back as 2013 that Perno had gotten credit in a business magazine for the redevelopment of Camden.

"Can [Perno's] head fit in City Hall?" Norcross wrote in an email from 2013. "I think Kris Kolluri would love to head Cooper's Ferry."

Four years later, the plan came together. As CEO of the Rowan University Rutgers-Camden Board of Governors, Redd took over a relatively new organization funded with an annual $2.5 million grant from both Rowan and Rutgers universities as part of a state legislative deal that Norcross allies' helped broker. The board has no actual governance authority, but did have eminent domain powers for property in Camden around the Rutgers campus and the Rowan medical school.

"The Norcross Enterprise did this, in part, to financially benefit Dana L. Redd, the defendant, who was nearing the end of her term as Camden Mayor," the indictment says. As CEO of the Rowan-Rutgers board, Redd had a new salary of $275,000, along with her pension. Politico reported she was the only candidate interviewed for the job.

Bass Levin did not respond to an inquiry. "Susan Bass Levin has a well-earned reputation of being an ethical and upstanding community leader," her lawyer, David Eskew, said.

Make way for the mayor, again

In 2022, Kolluri left Cooper's Ferry Partnership to become the CEO of the Gateway Development Commission, the $16 billion project to build a new rail tunnel under the Hudson River. It's the largest publicly funded project in the country.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy touted Kolluri's service as New Jersey's transportation commissioner from 2006 to 2008. His more recent work at Cooper's Ferry Partnership and Rowan-Rutgers was only briefly mentioned.

"Kris has years of infrastructure management and operations experience, as well as years of government experience, that will be vital as we continue working with our federal partners to get the Gateway Program fully funded and completed," Murphy said.

A Murphy adviser said Kolluri was qualified for the job, but that his connections to Norcross helped him get the appointment from New York and New Jersey's governors.

The adviser asked to remain anonymous because it would jeopardize his job.

Kolluri's move to Gateway, which paid him an annual salary of $395,000, prompted a familiar shuffling of jobs. Redd replaced him at Cooper's Ferry, which had been rebranded as Camden Community Partnership by then.

Kolluri, who stepped down from the Gateway project in August, is not named in the indictment, but referred to as "Individual-1." He is not accused of any wrongdoing and did not respond to an inquiry. The Gateway project is not referenced in the indictment.

"[Norcross] is a patron and he will expect some short term, maybe even long term, loyalty from people he provides resources and opportunities to," said Domonic Bearfield, a public policy professor at George Washington University who grew up in New Jersey and has written about patronage jobs. "He's going to expect them to advance some of his ideals. Now unfortunately, this can be corrupted."