[Hat Tip: WSC.]Shimon Haber, who pleaded guilty in N.J. corruption bust, gets five months in prison
By Joe Ryan • The Star-Ledger
A Union City developer and former business partner of FBI informant Solomon Dwek was sentenced to five months in prison today on money laundering charges.
Shimon Haber, 34, of Brooklyn, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares to serve five months of home confinement.
Haber pleaded guilty in January to conspiring to help Dwek launder between $10,000 and $30,000 in purported criminal proceeds through a religious charity.
His lawyer, Charles A. Stillman, asked Linares to sentence Haber to probation, saying he was a charitable father of four who had been duped by Dwek, an admitted real estate swindler whose later work as an informant led to charges against 46 people.
When he pleaded guilty, Haber also acknowledged conspiring to funnel money into the campaign account of an unnamed Union City elected official as part of an effort to gain approvals for a real estate project.
Court filings and campaign finance reports show the money went to an election campaign associated with Mayor Brian Stack. The mayor has not been charged with any wrongdoing and has declined repeated requests to discuss the matter.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Dustin Chao said Haber was a “willing participant and helper in Mr. Dwek’s purported schemes.” The prosecutor asked the judge to sentence him according to the terms of his plea agreement, which called for a range of 10 to 16 months.