2 Jersey City officials plead guilty to taking bribes in federal sting

Maher Khalil, 39, a health official, and Guy Catrillo, 54, a former planning aide, both told a federal judge in Newark they took bribes from the cooperating witness who spent more than two years recording conversations during scores of meetings in diners, parked cars and boiler rooms.

Among those arrested were three mayors, two state legislators, several political operatives and five rabbis from communities in Deal and Brooklyn.

Federal authorities said the guilty pleas from Khalil and Catrillo mark a key step in the case.

(...) Aside from admitting accepting $72,500 in bribes, Khalil told U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares that three other people charged in the case took cash from the informant.

He named two of them: Jersey City Council President Mariano Vega and Edward Cheatam, a former city housing commissioner and board of education vice president. The third, Khalil described only as the treasurer of the Guttenberg board of education.

That treasurer has been identified in criminal complaints as Vincent Tabbachino, who has also been charged.