N.J. Attorney General is dropping racketeering charges against George Norcross following court ruling

New Jersey prosecutors are dropping racketeering charges against Democratic power broker George E. Norcross III, ending a high-profile case that law enforcement officials had framed as a reckoning on the state’s culture of corruption.

Acting Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, an appointee of Democratic Gov. Mikie Sherrill, will not appeal an appellate court ruling last month that upheld a judge’s decision to dismiss charges against Norcross and five codefendants, the AG’s office said Tuesday.

Davenport could have asked the state Supreme Court to review the Appellate Division’s decision, but prosecutors concluded that their resources “would be best spent on other matters,” Sharon Lauchaire, a spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office, said in a statement.

A three-judge panel said in a Jan. 30 decision that several of the racketeering conspiracy and extortion charges were time-barred under the statute of limitations. Other counts failed to state a crime, were untimely, or both, the panel said.

Norcross, 69, is a former longtime member of the Democratic National Committee, founder of insurance brokerage Conner Strong & Buckelew, and chair of Cooper University Health Care. He was accused of using threats of economic and reputational harm — and his purported control of Camden’s government — to obtain valuable property on Camden’s waterfront from a developer and a nonprofit.

His spokesperson on Tuesday portrayed the case against Norcross — announced in June 2024 by then-Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin — as a politicized abuse of the law similar to the Trump Justice Department’s targeting of perceived enemies.

“We always knew that Matt Platkin brought this case for reasons other than its legal merits — and now multiple judges and Platkin’s successor as AG agree the allegations simply weren’t true,” Norcross spokesperson Dan Fee said in a statement.

“The question now is whether Platkin’s supporters who cheered him on will take a serious look at what he did and whether other authorities will do the same,” he said. “We will certainly be making the case that he and anyone else who used lawfare against George should be held to account, no differently than Pam Bondi and her DOJ should.”

Platkin, who was appointed to the post by Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy, has denied pursuing the case for political reasons. He noted on Tuesday that the case “was presented to a grand jury by career prosecutors over several months.”

“Out of respect for the men and women who do brave work holding corruption to account, I won’t comment further — other than to say I remain proud to have supported their efforts at a time when trust in government is at an all time low and I will never apologize for believing that everyone should be held to the same standards, no matter how powerful they may be," Platkin said in a statement.

Notwithstanding the decision to drop charges, Lauchaire said the Attorney General’s Office “remains committed to prioritizing public corruption prosecutions in this time of deepening mistrust in government.”

“Wrongdoing by public officials undermines faith in our institutions, and the public rightfully demands and deserves that officials perform their duties with integrity and in accordance with the law,” she said. “We will never shy away from holding public officials accountable when they betray the public’s trust and behave unlawfully.”

In addition to Norcross, prosecutors are dropping charges against Norcross’ brother Philip, CEO of the law firm Parker McCay; attorney William Tambussi; former Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd; Sidney R. Brown, CEO of logistics firm NFI; and John J. O’Donnell, an executive at residential developer The Michaels Organization.

This is a developing story and will be updated.