Yaede’s campaign manager denies knowingly releasing expunged criminal records
Ignorance is HAMILTON » bliss.
Mayor Kelly Yaede’s campaign manager for the heated primary had no idea GOP rival David Henderson’s 2001 arrest report was actually expunged, according to his legal defense.
Both Dan Scharfenberger and the mayor were charged earlier this week for their alleged roles in releasing and publishing Henderson’s expunged records online.
Knowingly disclosing expunged criminal records is a disorderly persons offense in New Jersey, but defense attorneys Les Hartman and Edward Bertuccio say their client Scharfenberger never committed such an offense.
“Somebody dropped the ball in Hamilton and released the records, and that has nothing to do with our client Mr. Scharfenberger,” Hartman said Thursday in an interview. “The records were there before he was hired and he would have never published expunged records knowingly.”
Yaede and Scharfenberger previously denied having a hand in the release of Henderson’s records. Scharfenberger worked as Yaede’s campaign manager earlier this year and helped her defeat Henderson in the June 4 primary.
Prosecutors said that Yaede and Scharfenberger, between May 28 and June 6, revealed the “existence of arrest, conviction or related legal proceeding with knowledge that the records and the information pertaining thereto have been expunged or sealed.”
The expunged documents were publicly posted on a pro-Yaede blog known as the Hamilton Spotlight. Scharfenberger was the blog administrator, and he and Yaede controlled the blog’s content, the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said.
Yaede also posted links to the blog article on her personal and official Facebook pages and eventually defeated Henderson in the Republican primary election with about 65 percent of the vote.
In a May 13 interview, Scharfenberger rebuffed suggestions Team Yaede had anything to do with publication of the expunged records. He said Yaede had no “interest” in finding out how the records got out, adding, “We are running our own campaign. We don’t see that as an issue at all. It’s all hooey.”
Scharfenberger is no longer involved with the Yaede campaign. Meanwhile, the embattled Republican mayor hopes to win re-election this November.