A nearly seven-year criminal prosecution launched by the then-fledgling Office of Public Integrity and Accountability is nearly over without a trial, conviction, or admission of guilt, after state prosecutors agreed to let former Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell (D-Bayonne) enter a one-year Pre-Trial Intervention program.
Prosecutors today amended O’Donnell’s indictment to a 3rd-degree charge of conspiracy to commit bribery with no objection to his admission into the state’s PTI program in an agreement between the state attorney general’s office and O’Donnell’s attorney, Leo Hurley. If O’Donnell completes the program, prosecutors will dismiss the charges. He will pay no fine and have no record – but, apparently, no apology from prosecutors who aggressively sought to ruin his life.
Superior Court Judge Mitzy Galis-Menendez will make the final decision on September 26 after PTI program officials have a chance to review O’Donnell’s application…