Jury To Weigh Evidence In NJ Corruption Trial

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- Jury deliberations were set to begin Wednesday in the federal corruption trial of a former New Jersey assemblyman.

L. Harvey Smith was charged with extortion, bribery and money laundering in the state's largest corruption sting.

Prosecutors said Smith took $15,000 from a government informant who posed as a developer.

Smith's attorney said his client had intended to return all the money and was an honest public servant who fell victim to an elaborate government sting.

This was the first trial in which jurors didn't hear testimony from the government's informant, Solomon Dwek.

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