Coniglio defense shifts focus to Codey
The Record
Tuesday, April 1, 2009
BY PETER J. SAMPSON
The spotlight shifted to Senate President Richard Codey on Tuesday as the defense in the federal corruption trial of Joseph Coniglio sought to show that the former acting governor was more of a sugar daddy to Hackensack University Medical Center than the man prosecutors portray as the hospital’s bought and-paid-for legislator.
Under cross-examination by defense lawyer Gerald Krovatin, Robert Torre, the executive in charge of raising funds for the state’s busiest hospital, described a budding and fruitful relationship with Codey after he became governor in 2004, when former Gov. James E. McGreevey resigned.
The defense sought to show how Codey helped secure a $9 million state grant for the hospital’s new cancer center. It was Codey who was credited in periodic reports to the hospital’s board for his exceptional efforts in helping to secure major grants. It was also Codey who was honored at the foundation’s annual golf outing in May 2005
If Coniglio was the hospital’s “go-to guy,” Krovatin asked Torre, why wasn’t he in the photo with hospital executives and board members holding up a giant replica of the $9 million check from the state for the cancer center?
Federal prosecutors allege that Coniglio, 66, of Paramus, sold his office to the hospital, peddling his influence on the powerful Senate Budget Committee for $103,900 in “corrupt payments.”
