Sharpe James

[5] Prior to politics, James worked as a teacher, athletic director and professor at Essex County College.

[8] In 1977 he led an effort to halt landings of Concorde jets at Newark International Airport, claiming it would add to air and noise pollution in the area.

[9] In 1983, after talk show host Phil Donahue made comments about Newark being "a place foreigners wouldn't want to visit", James demanded an apology.

[11][12] James became known in his early years as mayor for often wearing jogging suits in public and making high-profile efforts to attract development to Downtown Newark.

[13] In 1987 and 1988, James served as the New Jersey chairman of Jesse Jackson's campaign for the 1988 Democratic Party presidential nomination.

[15] In 1996, James's chief of staff, Jackie Mattison, was charged in federal court with receiving over $17,000 in bribes from an insurance broker from Millburn.

On March 16, James filed for reelection as mayor, but announced eleven days later he would not seek a sixth term.

[23] In 2005, a New Jersey Open Public Records Act (OPRA) request was submitted asking that James hand over a City Hall-issued debit card he had received in 2002.

[25] In a response, James claimed no wrongdoing, and explained that, "as the last of the civil rights mayors in America, I had to travel and sell this city and the world about the Newark success story".

[21] In a press conference regarding the indictment, Christie alleged that James rigged the sale of nine city lots to Riley in a "cut-rate scheme" between 2001 and 2005.

[33] On March 5, prosecutors presented more than a dozen memos from James regarding the land deals, which revealed that he had been monitoring whether city developers he was acquainted with were getting a chance to buy the lots.

She also testified that Tamika Riley had privileged access to James and that City Hall officials were aware they were having an affair.

[34] On April 1, the defense called up former councilwoman Gayle Chaneyfield Jenkins, who testified that the city council set a uniform price for city-owned land for redevelopers and that James had not been involved in the process.

[1] On May 12, the U.S. Attorney's office announced that the remaining charges against James for his misuse of city-issued credits cards had been dropped, thus sparing him of a second trial.

[42] In June 2009, James' attorney Alan Bowman attempted to convince an appellate court to expunge the convictions, although his efforts failed.

[49] On August 17, 2012, the New Jersey Superior Court ruled in favor of the commission and ordered that both James and Johnson had to pay the money back.

[53] That same year, he advised the election campaign of his son John Sharpe James, who won a seat on the Municipal Council of Newark.

[54][53] That same year James endorsed Cory Booker, a former foe he had defeated in the 2002 Newark mayoral race, in the special election for U.S.

U.S. District Court Judge Bill Martini sentenced James to 27 months in prison despite prosecutors originally recommending a 15-to-20-year sentence.