The sentencings of a former Hudson County Improvement Authority employee and the owner of a recycled waste company has been postponed until March.
The sentencings of a former Hudson County Improvement Authority employee and the owner of a recycled waste company who extorted thousands of dollars in corrupt payments related to the construction of Hudson County's public golf course has been postponed until March.
Gerard Pica, of Middletown, who retired in 2014 as an environmental scientist with the HCIA, and James Castaldo, of Beachwood, who operated Renda Enterprises, were scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday. The new sentencing date is March 30, in Newark federal court before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares.
Pica and Castaldo, 60, pleaded guilty in November to conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right. They face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense.
Pica, using his influence over which companies the HCIA hired to provide fill for the construction of the nine-hole public golf course located at Lincoln Park West in Jersey City, arranged to obtain corrupt payments from the owner of an unnamed Bayonne recycling business after ensuring that the Bayonne company won the contract.
Castaldo, whose company provided interstate transportation and broker services for recycled waste and other materials, received $2 per cubic yard of fill and soil material delivered to the site. That money was to be split between Pica, Castaldo and an unnamed HCIA employee that has not been charged.
In is plea agreement, Pica admitted that he created a phony invoice from a company he owned for monies purportedly owed to him by Renda Enterprises. Pica admitted the money was payment of his share of in the extortion scheme.