12-15-2003 -- D'Agosta, Frank -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Jersey City Police Detective Admits Extorting Owner of Illegal Gambling Business; Also Pleads Guilty to State Corruption Charge

NEWARK - A former Jersey City Police detective pleaded guilty today to extorting the owner of an illegal gambling business in Jersey City, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Later in the day, former Detective Frank D'Agosta, 47, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to state official misconduct charges in Superior Court in Hudson County.

D'Agosta was employed with the South District of the Jersey City Police Department, pleaded guilty to a one-count Information, charging him with demanding and accepting cash payments from the owner of an illegal gambling business in exchange for protecting the illegal business from law enforcement detection, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Deborah L. Goldklang.

D'Agosta appeared first before before U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to plead guilty pursuant to a plea agreement with the U.S. Attorney's Office. Sentencing was set for March 24. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

This afternoon, D'Agosta pleaded guilty before state Superior Court Judge Joseph F. Davis to a criminal accusation which charged one count of official misconduct - a second-degree crime punishable by up to 10 years in state prison and a fine of up to $150,000.

As part of a plea agreement with the state and federal governments, the state sentence is to run concurrently with whatever federal sentence D'Agosta receives.

D'Agosta admitted in federal court that since the summer of 2002, he demanded and accepted more than $10,000 in cash from the owner of the illegal gambling business which was not due to him for any official action. D'Agosta further admitted that he repeatedly threatened to shut down the illegal gambling business and arrest the owner if the owner did not meet his demands for cash payments.

The Information details cash payments in amounts ranging from $300 to $3,000.

D'Agosta, who had been a Jersey City Police Detective since 1979, resigned voluntarily in October.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Judge Martini will determine D'Agosta's actual sentence based on a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense as well as other factors.

Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are given custodial terms must serve nearly all that time.

Christie credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Louie F. Allen; the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice and the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of State Attorney General Peter Harvey and State Police Superintendent Rick Fuentes; and the Jersey City Police Department, under the direction of Chief of Police Ronald Buonocore, for their work in developing the case.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Goldklang of the Special Prosecutions Division in Newark.

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Defense Counsel: Leonard Meyerson, Esq., Jersey City