Cherry Hill code officer charged with taking bribes

Anthony Saccomanno, until recently the top code official in Cherry Hill, was charged yesterday with taking bribes to steer building-inspection contracts to a private company.

Saccomanno, 66, was caught on a wiretap in 2007 telling a vice president at Building Inspection Underwriters Inc. that he wanted $2,500 in cash to ensure the company kept its contract with the township, prosecutors said.

"You know what you got to do," Saccomanno said, according to a criminal complaint.

The following year, Saccomanno raised his price to $3,000, the complaint said.

The vice president, who was not named in court papers, cooperated with the investigation and recorded multiple conversations with Saccomanno and Russell McLaughlin, who was president of the inspection company, based in Pennsylvania.

McLaughlin, 56, of Chalfont, was charged yesterday with bribery. He and Saccomanno made their initial appearances in federal court in Camden yesterday; each was released on a $50,000 unsecured bond.

McLaughlin's attorney, Emmett Fitzpatrick, declined to comment after the hearing.

McLaughlin also was accused of giving Saccomanno $5,000 to retain his company's contract in 2009. The company inspected plumbing, electrical systems, and elevators in the township, a contract worth $240,000 in 2008.

The two men discussed the 2009 contract at three separate meetings in November and December. The vice president who had recorded earlier conversations was not present at those meetings. Nonetheless, those conversations also were recorded, though the complaint did not explain how.

Saccomanno was not accused of accepting the $5,000 in the complaint filed against him.

Saccomanno worked for Cherry Hill for 31 years before recently retiring for health reasons, according to his attorney, Jeff Zucker. Saccomanno continued working as a part-time building inspector until resigning Friday "on the advice of his doctor," Zucker said.

Zucker said he could not comment on the case.

"There's not much to say at this point," he said. "We'll just wait and see."

Dan Keashen, a spokesman for Cherry Hill Mayor Bernie Platt, said the mayor was "outraged and disappointed with the allegations."

Saccomanno's actions, if the allegations are true, were "not tolerated and never will be tolerated," Keashen said.

Saccomanno, who had been the top code-enforcement official since 1978, was accused in a 2003 civil suit of attempting to strong-arm the developers of the Cherry Hill Towers into using union labor.

Bob Healey, the owner of Viking Associates, which rehabilitated the long-vacant apartments, said Saccomanno had warned him not to use nonunion labor and then had held up building permits for three months when he accepted a nonunion bid.

Healey, who could not be reached for comment yesterday, described Saccomanno's efforts as part of an intimidation campaign led by Camden County Democrats.

Saccomanno denied Healey's allegations and said the permits were held up because of problems with handicap accessibility and sewage hookups. The civil suit, filed in federal court, eventually was dismissed.

Building Inspection Underwriters had the Cherry Hill contract from 2003 to 2008, but the company did not win the 2009 contract, Keashen said.

In 2006, the company won the contract with the option to renew by mutual consent with the township for the following two years.

In 2007, Saccomanno told the company's vice president that he had taken an annual cash payment from a former employee at the company. At the time, the two men were at a retirement party at a hotel in Princeton, and the vice president was covering Saccomanno's expenses, the complaint said.

The vice president then told McLaughlin that Saccomanno had asked for $2,500.

"I don't know what else we can do," McLaughlin said, according to the complaint. "The problem is, it's gonna cost more not to do it."

In 2008, Saccomanno allegedly asked for $3,000. In 2009, the contract came up for bid again, and a second company submitted a bid.

Saccomanno told McLaughlin it would cost $5,000 to ensure his company got the contract.

In December, the two men met for lunch in Cherry Hill.

"I got that other thing. Got that all resolved," McLaughlin said, according to the complaint. "So I'll give that to you when we go."

After lunch, McLaughlin gave Saccomanno the money in a bank envelope, the complaint said.