Joseph Vas (credit: Robert Sciarrino/The Star-Ledger)
Reporting Levon Putney
NEWARK, N.J. (CBSNewYork/AP) — Former Perth Amboy mayor and state assemblyman Joseph Vas has been sentenced to more than six years in prison.
WCBS 880′s Levon Putney: There Were Tears In The Courtroom
Vas and an associate were convicted last fall of mail fraud, election finance violations and lying to authorities.
Vas was mayor of Perth Amboy from 1990 to 2008 and served as a state assemblyman from 2003. He was the Assembly’s deputy majority leader.
The election financing counts stem from his unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2006.
The mail fraud counts were the most serious and carried a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office had asked for a minimum sentence of seven years and three months.
Vas also will have to pay $90,000 in restitution to Perth Amboy.
(TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2011 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
