Former federal prosecutor in Philly, N.J. to oversee Norcross case

New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin appointed a former federal prosecutor in Philadelphia to oversee the investigation. blackmail case in office against the power broker George E. Norcross III.

Platkin announced Monday that Eric L. Gibson will lead the Corruption Bureau of the Attorney General’s Public Integrity and Accountability Bureau, along with Jeffrey J. Manis.

Gibson, a former deputy chief of the Corruption and Civil Rights Unit of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, will oversee the prosecution of Norcross, according to Platkin’s spokesman.

“Cases handled by the Corruption Bureau are often high-profile, risky and complex,” Platkin said in a statement. “The prosecution team is often in the spotlight for holding powerful individuals and institutions accountable. “Having these two individuals and their long histories, including with the Department of Justice, tackle these challenges will be a tremendous asset to the people of New Jersey.”

Norcross, an insurance executive and longtime leader of the South Jersey Democratic political machine. A lawsuit was filed in June on blackmail and extortion charges. A grand jury indicted him for using threats and pressure, as well as his influence with local government, to obtain valuable waterfront real estate in Camden from rival developers.

Norcross and five defendants They did not admit their guilt. They have He asked the judge to reject the indictmentHe maintained that he did not indicate any criminal activity and that the allegations against him showed nothing more than “challenging business negotiations.”

“The change of attorneys does not change the facts of this case; the allegations in the indictment do not constitute a crime,” Norcross attorney Michael Critchley said in a statement Monday. he said.

As a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, Gibson played a leading role in his office’s case. against former longtime U.S. Rep. Chaka Fattah.a Democrat from Philadelphia Convicted on racketeering and bribery charges in 2016. Gibson also helped provide security former U.S. Rep. Michael “Ozzie” Myers to plead guilty in 2022 in an election fraud case.

But Gibson lost the U.S. Attorney’s last high-profile public corruption case against a Philadelphia City Council member. Kenyatta Johnsonwho was Acquitted of bribery charges in 2022.

Gibson joined Philadelphia-based law firm Post & Schell PC last year, where he led the Internal Investigations and White Collar Defense Practice Group. Manis, another former federal prosecutor, currently works for the state Attorney General’s Office. Platkin’s office said they started their new duties last week.

The announcement of a new leadership team comes as the AG’s Office of Public Integrity and Accountability faces scrutiny from criminal defense attorneys; Someone who worked on the defense team in the Norcross case — and news organizations questioning some of prosecutors’ tactics. “Is the AG’s corruption office up to the job?” Read the headline of an August article from the editorial board of the Newark Star-Ledger magazineciting the corruption unit’s botched case of a rabbi.