Salvatore Bonaccorso, the former longtime mayor of Clark, New Jersey, was sentenced Friday to three years probation and barred from holding public office again after pleading guilty to charges of official misconduct and forgery.
Bonaccorso, 64, a Republican who served as mayor of the Union County township from 2001 until last month, was also fined $15,000. He resigned in January after admitting that he’d used township employees to benefit his private business, Bonaccorso & Son, and had forged signatures on permit applications to remove residential oil tanks.
“The former mayor misused taxpayer-funded resources in Clark to benefit and enrich himself at residents’ expense,” said Attorney General Matt Platkin in a statement. “We will continue to hold accountable anyone who abuses the public trust no matter how powerful they may be.”
Bonaccorso’s attorneys, Robert G. Stahl and Andrew C. Olesnycky, said in a statement that the former mayor took the plea “to avoid further disruption and stress to his family, to his health and to the town he loves and has dedicated his life to.”
“Mayor Bonaccorso has devoted decades to public service. He was a consummate Mayor, relentlessly advocating for his community and its residents,” said the statement from the attorneys. They added: the Mayor has agreed to forfeit public office but knows that his administration’s policies and practices will continue to benefit the citizens of Clark.”
The sentencing followed earlier revelations, reported in 2022 by NJ Advance Media, that Bonaccorso had used racial slurs while talking to police and made demeaning comments about female police officers. The slurs were caught on audio by a whistleblower, a police lieutenant who secretly recorded conversations.
Bonaccorso was re-elected to another term in 2024 and sworn into office on New Year’s Day. But his subsequent guilty plea in the corruption case forced his resignation.
“It was wrong. I am embarrassed and ashamed to have spoken that way about a race of people,” Bonaccorso said in a video apology.
In 2023, the state office of public integrity and accountability charged Bonaccorso with official misconduct and forgery after an investigation by its corruption bureau found that he had operated his oil tank removal business out of his township office.
“He stored and maintained the records for the business at the mayor’s office, used township computers, fax machines and other equipment, and directed or used township employees to perform duties while those employees were working for and being paid by the township, solely for the purpose of running his business,” said the office in a statement detailing the charges to which Bonaccorso pleaded guilty.
