In October 2020, Jersey City Board of Education president Sudhan Thomas was indicted on charges of wire fraud for embezzling money from his 2019 campaign; and bank fraud for stealing checks issued by and to another school board candidate’s campaign in 2018. He was also charged for the same crimes in connection with his position at a job training program in Jersey City.

Yesterday he pleaded guilty.

When Thomas was running for a seat on the Jersey City school board, he was lavishly supported by the New Jersey Education Association, the state teacher union. According to IRS filings (see below) NJEA’s PAC gave him $8,200 to spend on his campaign and Thomas used it for personal luxuries. Maybe NJEA leaders were fine with that: in 2019, according to then-Jersey City school board member Matt Shapiro, Thomas and another board member privately negotiated with the city’s teacher union for a sweetheart of a contract.

How sweet? A teacher with a median salary, $74,660, would earn about $95,000 at the end of the contract, a $20,870 increase over four years.

Then-Senate President Steve Sweeney told the Star-Ledger, “The agreement is a giveaway to the local NJEA, and the consequences for the students, taxpayers and teachers of Jersey City will be harsh and they will be real. The givebacks will take money out of the classrooms, force teacher layoffs and make the schools budget problems worse.”

In fact, last year the new school district was forced to raise taxes by $1,600 for each homeowner in order to close a budget hole caused by loss of state aid (Jersey City pays way below its Fair Share) and bloated salaries.

According to a press release issued yesterday from United States Attorney office, “the embezzlement charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 10 years in prison. The wire fraud charge is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison. Both charges carry a maximum fine of up to $250,000. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 1.”