Former Morris County freeholder pleads guilty to conspiracy in bribery scheme, AG Platkin says
MORRIS COUNTY, N.J. — A former Morris County freeholder has pleaded guilty to accepting bribes in exchange for steering public legal work to a cooperating witness’s law firm, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced Monday.
John Cesaro, 53, of Parsippany-Troy Hills, pleaded guilty on Nov. 17 before Superior Court Judge Peter J. Tober in Somerset County to third-degree conspiracy to commit bribery in official and political matters.
Under the plea agreement, state prosecutors will seek a five-year prison sentence when Cesaro is sentenced on Jan. 16, 2026. The agreement also requires him to forfeit $7,700 — the amount he admitted receiving — and pay an approximately $23,000 public corruption profiteering penalty. Cesaro will be permanently barred from holding public office or public employment and will be prohibited from doing business with the state or its subdivisions for five years.
“The public’s faith in government is shaken when elected officials trade favors or preferential treatment for illicit payments,” Attorney General Platkin said. “Government service is about serving the public, not about getting unlawful perks.”
“This guilty plea shows that public servants who abuse their positions to enrich themselves at the expense of New Jersey residents will face justice,” added Eric L. Gibson, executive director of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability (OPIA).
Prosecutors said Cesaro accepted thousands of dollars in bribes from a cooperating witness who was a tax attorney. In return, Cesaro promised to use his influence on the former Freeholder Board — now the Board of County Commissioners — to hire or continue retaining the attorney’s law firm for county legal work.
During his plea hearing, Cesaro admitted that between April and May 2018 in Randolph, Mountain Lakes and Morristown, he accepted $7,700 in cash in exchange for agreeing to use his elected position to obtain public contracts or work for the cooperating witness.
