INVESTIGATION
Only one indictment for all that time and money is a let down
A 19-month investigation that cost Mercer County taxpayers hundreds of thousands of dollars in employee attorney’s fees ended with one indictment.
Not exactly much bang for bucks as Attorney General Christopher Porrino announced an indictment of Kevin Bannon, former Mercer County Park Commission executive director. One indictment? Perhaps Porrino can recoup some money with sales of T-shirts emblazoned “NJ AG had a 19-month investigation and all it got was one lousy indictment.” Talk about fizzle. This equates to looking for Al Capone and arresting Al Bundy; searching for the Unabomber and coming back with Uma Thurman
Of course, corruption matters, especially by people in high places, although many onlookers expected a network of wrongdoing in this Mercer County probe.
In the ginormous Mercer County bureaucratic machine, smart people know potential corruption extends beyond Bannon.
As with many investigations, authorities can make arrangements for leniency and immunity in exchange for testimony.
The Mercer County Park Commission probe pushed attorney fees toward $1 million as law requires the County to provide legal representation for employees.
Mercer County Spokeswoman Julie Willmot explained in a previous Trentonian article.
“The county is obligated by ordinance to provide legal counsel to any employee being interviewed in this case,” Willmot said via email.
“The County is obligated to provide counsel to all employees who are subject to Subpoena or have been requested to voluntarily come in to be interviewed by the representatives of the Criminal Justice Division of the AG’s Office.”
The current attorney’s fees total stands at approximately $800,000 with law firm Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland Perretti LLP a benefactor of nearly $600,000.