NEWARK, N.J. (1010 WINS/AP) -- Summations began Monday in the corruption trial of former Newark Mayor Sharpe James and his one-time mistress.
``We are here because Sharpe James betrayed the people of Newark,'' Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith A. Germano told jurors at federal court in Newark, just a block from City Hall, where James led the state's largest city for 20 years.
James is accused of arranging for the sale of nine city-owned properties at a discounted rate of $46,000 to Tamika Riley from 2001 to 2005. Riley quickly sold them for $665,000 without ever starting required rehabilitation work on most of them, prosecutors said.
``What happened here with Tamika Riley is Sharpe James acted in his own interest,'' Germano said.
The defense for James, whose summations are scheduled for Tuesday, has stressed that the Newark City Council, not the mayor, had final approval over the sales. His defense presented only two witnesses, both members of the council, who said James never tried to influence their decisions.
Riley's defense attempted to shift blame to her real estate lawyers, and also maintained she paid the standard rate for distressed properties.
The 41 witnesses heard over five weeks did not include James, 72, or Riley, 39, a publicist who once ran a clothing boutique near City Hall.
James ruled from that building from 1986 to 2006, promoting a city struggling with crime, unemployment and decay. He championed a number of large public projects, including the Prudential Center, a pro hockey arena that opened in October.
He has said little since his indictment in July, and has displayed little emotion during the trial.
Defense lawyers did not dispute that their clients had an intimate relationship, although Riley lawyer Gerald Krovatin sought to show that the affair ended sooner than prosecutors say it did.
Aside from that, much of the testimony came from a parade of Newark bureaucrats who described the city's redevelopment protocols.
James faces five charges, including fraud and conspiracy. Riley faces those charges and eight others, including evading taxes and cheating to obtain subsidized housing assistance for herself.
Under federal advisory guidelines, James could face seven to eight years in prison if he is convicted on all counts. Riley faces a similar exposure. But a judge could impose a much stiffer penalty _ as much as 20 years on some individual counts. James could also be stripped of pensions that provide a six-figure annual income.
James, who served as a state senator from 1999 to January 2008, is one of the most powerful figures snared in a series of corruption cases brought by the U.S. Attorney's Office, but is one of the few who has not plead guilty.
In the past several years, federal prosecutors garnered more than 100 public corruption convictions statewide of elected and appointed officials and people doing business with them, such as contractors.
A verdict in his favor would not end James' legal issues. He still faces a federal trial on charges he used city-issued credit cards to pay for $58,000 worth of personal expenses while he was mayor, including trips with several women other than his wife, to Martha's Vineyard, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Rio de Janeiro.
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