John A. Lynch, Jr.

John A. Lynch, Jr. (born October 21, 1938)^[1] is an American former Democratic Party politician from New Jersey, who served in the New Jersey Senate from 1982 to 2002, where he represented the 17th Legislative District, and was Senate President from 1990 to 1992.

He was also the 61st mayor of New Brunswick, from 1979 to 1991.

Biography

Lynch was born in New Brunswick in 1938, the son of John A. Lynch, Sr. and Evelyn Rooney.^[1] His father also served as both Mayor of New Brunswick and State Senator from Middlesex County (7th District). He attended the College of the Holy Cross and Georgetown University Law Center.

Lynch was chosen in December 1989 to serve as Senate President,^[2] a position he held until 1991, when Republicans took control of the Senate. In 1997, after an unsuccessful effort to regain Democratic Party control of the Senate, Lynch stepped down from his position as the Minority Leader.^[3]

Bob Smith was elected in November 2001 to fill the seat vacated after Lynch retired.^[4]

Corruption

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of New Jersey began investigating Lynch in the mid-2000s for his business dealings. On September 15, 2006, Lynch pleaded guilty in the U.S. District Court on one count of mail fraud and one count of tax evasion for failing to report $150,000 in income received from a real estate transaction in 1999.^[5] On December 19, 2006, he was sentenced by Judge Stanley R. Chesler to three years and three months in prison, which he was required to begin serving by January 15, 2007. Lynch was also required to pay a $50,000 fine.^[6]

He had faced up to five years in federal prison and a fine of up to $250,000 on each count of the indictment. However, based on Federal Sentencing Guidelines, a sentence of between 33 to 41 months in prison and a fine of between $7,500 to $75,000 was expected. As of December 14, 2006, the court received 172 letters from citizens seeking leniency.^[7]

Lynch served two and a half years at Federal Correctional Institution, Loretto before being transferred to a halfway house in Newark, New Jersey in June 2009. He completed his sentence on November 13, 2009.^[8]

References

1. Myers, William Starr (1945). The Story of New Jersey 5. Lewis Historical Publishing Company. p. 733.
2. McCoy, Craig R. "Democrats Elect Lynch to Senate's Tob Job", The Philadelphia Inquirer, December 12, 1989. Accessed April 23, 2008.
3. Peterson, Melody. "Senator Quits Minority Post In New Jersey", The New York Times, November 8, 1997. Accessed April 23, 2008.
4. Ackerman, Spencer. "To fill Lynch's big shoes, Smith stresses education", The Daily Targum, October 30, 2001. Accessed April 23, 2008. "Now, Assemblyman and former Piscataway Mayor Bob Smith is looking to take over for retiring State Sen. John Lynch, the powerful democrat castigated by his detractors as running 'the Lynch machine'."
5. Guilty Plea Expected From Former Senate Leader in Trenton, The New York Times, September 15, 2006.
6. "Former politician Lynch sentenced", Associated Press, December 19, 2006.
7. "Judge urged to show compassion in Lynch case", Asbury Park Press, December 15, 2006.
8. "Ex-N.J. Sen. John Lynch set to finish corruption sentence at Newark halfway house". NJ.com. November 12, 2009. Retrieved 2010-03-24. After 39 months as a federal inmate, former state Senate President John A. Lynch is scheduled to complete his corruption sentence Friday. ...