Judge orders convicted felon Matos to give up Philly ward leader post

A Pennsylvania federal judge thinks being a Philadelphia ward leader is ripe with so much temptation for wrongdoing that she has prohibited convicted felon Carlos Matos from being one - less than a month before several heated contests in the May 17 primary elections.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Anita B. Brody ordered Matos to give up his leadership of Norris Square Park's 19th Ward, an unpaid and publicly unelected position he has held since last June, following his release from prison.

Beginning in 2007, Matos served three years and was fined $50,000 for bribing three Atlantic City councilmen whom he believed could help him make money on several development projects there.

Also a ward leader for 10 years before his conviction, Matos is the son-in-law of City Commissioners Chairwoman Margaret Tartaglione and has long been active in Hispanic politics. He is supporting Seventh District Councilwoman Maria Quiñonez Sánchez in a heated primary battle against former Councilman Danny Savage.

"I'm just heartbroken, because I believe in what I do," Matos said in an interview Thursday, adding that he intended to resign his ward post immediately. "Evidently, some people think my wanting to move the agenda of the Hispanic community forward is something that is not beneficial."

Of the judge's decision, he said: "I just think it is ridiculous."

Besides banning Matos from being a ward leader, Brody also barred him from holding any other political position as long as he is under federal supervision for his crime.

"This protective measure serves a rehabilitative purpose: It attempts to ensure that Matos has a period of time to reintegrate into society, and develop the habits and contacts of a responsible citizen, before again finding himself in a position with frequent criminal temptation," she wrote.

Matos' probation officer - he is on supervised release until 2013 - initially brought a concern to the New Jersey federal judge who sentenced him, writing that "Mr. Matos' position as a ward leader may place him in situations where bribery could be utilized."

Citywide, there 69 ward leaders in Philadelphia's Democratic Party, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. Bob Brady. Selecting the leaders are neighborhood committeemen, elected by Philadelphia voters every four years.

During elections, ward leaders usually oversee the distribution of thousands of dollars in street money, and can play powerful roles in deciding what candidates the wards endorse.

According to Brody's order, Judge Robert B. Kugler in December allowed Matos to maintain leadership of the 19th Ward. At the same time, Kugler approved the transfer of his supervision from New Jersey to Pennsylvania, where Matos lives.

After the same concern from his probation officer reached Brody - who for 11 years was a Montgomery County Court judge - Brody phoned Kugler to ask about his decision.

According to the order, Kugler told Brody that "he intended for this issue to be addressed by the Eastern District of Pennsylvania," since he was transferring jurisdiction there.

At a hearing held by Brody this month, federal prosecutors argued that the "city ward leader position allowed Matos to come into contact with cash that could easily be misappropriated and with elected officials with whom Matos may be tempted to engage in malfeasance."

Matos testified "how ward leaders use money to compensate others and how they try to get jobs for other committee members and their family members," the order said.

Brody agreed with the prosecutors, noting that federal law routinely allows conditions of supervised release to include occupational restrictions - what she aimed to do by taking away Matos' ward job.

After his 2010 release, Matos worked for the city's Democratic Party, collecting about $300 a week. But Matos said Thursday that he ended that job earlier this year.

While Matos was in prison, his ward duties were fulfilled by his wife, Renee Tartaglione, who until last year worked for her mother as the city's chief elections deputy. Renee Tartaglione was forced to resign after admitting that, among other illegal political activities, she went to the city's Democratic Party headquarters six times between 2007 and 2009 to pick up $56,000 worth of checks for Election Day street money on behalf of her husband's ward and another run by her mother.

A letter attached to the judge's order detailed that the concern of federal probation authorities was sparked after a probation officer's September visit to the Juniata Community Health Clinic, where Matos was working as a case manager while also receiving mental-health treatment. Renee Tartaglione is president of the clinic.

During the visit, the probation officer saw Matos "wearing a Pennsylvania State Senate shirt and lunching with Jonathan Ramos." In 2008, Matos supported Ramos in his bid to unseat State Rep. Angel Cruz, with whom Matos has long been battling with for control of Philadelphia's Hispanic neighborhoods.

The probation officer said she was "concerned that Mr. Matos' position at Juniata is interwoven with his position as a ward leader."