A former New Jersey mayor barred from ever taking public office again anywhere in the state after a corruption case drove him out of office six years ago has been indicted following his actions last year to get back on the ballot.
A grand jury in Trenton voted forward the indictment on Tuesday, charging Torres with criminal contempt-of-court following his actions last year to pursue another run for office.
“It takes remarkable brashness to flout a state court order and then attempt to strong-arm the city clerk, via civil litigation, into allowing an impermissible campaign to proceed,” Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement. “That is bold. And, according to the grand jury, it is also indictable.”
Torres resigned as the mayor of Paterson back in 2017 as part of a plea deal and agreed to never again seek public office over a scheme to steal from taxpayers by ordering city workers to do construction on a relative's would-be beer business.
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Torres accepted the deal after Paterson Department of Public Works supervisors were caught on camera doing work for the now-former mayor's family also accepted plea deals and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
The embattled former politician popped up in February 2022 delivering a speech where he said he would run for mayor in that year's election. He was also heard asking for votes from the audience.
Weeks after that speech, the 63-year-old is accused of delivering "a stack of purported nominating petitions in support of his candidacy" to the city clerk's office, knowingly disobeying the 2017 forfeiture order he signed following his guilty plea, the attorney general's office said. Those petitions -- rejected by the clerk's office -- prompted Torres to file a civil action to compel the office to accept them.
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A judge in Passaic County last year denied Joey Torres' lawsuit to compel the city clerk's office to accept his petition to appear on the ballot for the election. Judge Thomas Brogan said allowing the suit to go forward would cause "irreparable harm" to voters since Torres cannot hold office.
Brogan's denial of the former mayor's legal challenge seemingly keeps him from pursing the top post in Paterson once again. Torres called the judge's decision "disenfranchising to those people who signed the petition."
Torres initially denied any wrongdoing in the corruption case and vowed to fight the charges. His arrest came after a series of I-Team stories that appeared to show city employees doing private jobs for him, from washing his scooter and building bookshelves to doing construction at his nephew's would-be beer business.
Torres served five terms on Paterson's City Council before he was elected mayor in 2002. If convicted on the the fourth-degree criminal contempt charge, he faces up to 18 months in prison and up to a $10,000 fine.
