Former Newark Deputy Mayor and Director of the Newark Department of Economic and Housing Development Sentenced to Prison for Scheming to Obtain Bribes

NEWARK, N.J. - Carmelo Garcia, 51, a former City of Newark official who served as Deputy Mayor and Director of the Newark Department Economic and Housing Development (DEHD) and served as Executive Vice President and Chief Real Estate Officer of the Newark Community Economic Development Corporation (NCEDC), was sentenced on June 3, 2026 to 12 months and one day in prison, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release for participating in a corrupt scheme to obtain bribes and kickbacks from two Newark business owners, U.S. Attorney Robert Frazer announced. These bribes were intended to influence and award Garcia for assisting the business owners with the acquisition and redevelopment of various Newark-owned properties.

Garcia previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo to three counts of an Information charging him with conspiracy to defraud the City of Newark and the NCEDC of Garcia's honest services, honest services wire fraud, and receiving bribes in connection with the business of a federally funded local government and organization.

According to documents filed in these cases and statements made in court:

From at least 2017 through April 2019, while serving as a high-level Newark official, and prior to that, as an executive officer of the NCEDC (now known as Invest Newark), Garcia sought and received significant monetary payments and other benefits from Frank Valvano, Jr., Irwin Sablosky, and others in exchange for Garcia's use of his official positions and influence within the City of Newark and the NCEDC to advance real estate development matters of interest to Valvano and Sablosky. These matters included obtaining preliminary designation letters for Valvano and Sablosky and securing Newark-approved redevelopment agreements (RDAs) that allowed them to purchase and acquire various Newark-owned properties for redevelopment, and to ensure that Garcia did not use his influence and authority to act against their interests. In addition to cash, Garcia also received jewelry, including multiple high-end watches and chains, from Valvano and Sablosky's pawnbroker and jewelry business.

Phone records and text messages obtained by law enforcement show extensive communication between Garcia, Valvano, Sablosky, and others throughout this period of time, including text messages in which Garcia arranged to personally collect cash provided by Valvano and Sablosky. In one instance, in June 2018, Garcia, then the City's Acting Deputy Mayor and Director of the City's DEHD, received an envelope containing $25,000 in cash, supplied by Valvano through an intermediary, in the restroom of a New Jersey restaurant.

Garcia originally was charged by indictment in October 2021 with Valvano, 57, of Florham Park, New Jersey, and Sablosky, 66, of Springfield, New Jersey. Both Valvano and Sablosky pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud and bribery, and both have been sentenced.

U.S. Attorney Frazer credited special agents of the FBI's Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Stefanie Roddy; special agents of IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan, and special agents of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Shawn A. Rice, with the investigation leading to today's conviction.

The government is represented by Elaine K. Lou, Chief of the Criminal Division, Assistant U.S. Attorney Francesca Liquori of the U.S. Attorney's Office's Special Prosecutions Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney and Matthew Specht of the Criminal Division.

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Defense counsel:

Garcia: Robert G. Stahl, Esq., Laura K. Gasiorowski, Westfield, New Jersey.