Terrance Weldon, former Ocean Twp Mayor and Asbury Park City Manager Died Today

Terrance Weldon, the former Ocean Township Mayor and Asbury Park city manager who was a central figure in the Operation Bid Rig scandal, died today at Jersey Shore Medical Center, Neptune, according to an entry on the website of the Buckley Funeral Home.  Weldon was 68 years old.

On October 10, 2002, Weldon pleaded guilty to federal charges of accepting $60,000 in bribes from three developers between 1998 and 2001.  He remained out of prison until January of 2008 while he cooperated with U.S. Attorney Chris Christie’s Operation Bid Rig into public corruption in Monmouth County.  His cooperation led to the convictions of Howard Schoor, the principle of the Schoor DePalma engineering firm, and three other guilty pleas.

U.S. District Judge William H. Walls rejected pleas for leniency by both the U.S Attorney’s Office and Weldon’s attorney when sentencing Weldon to 58 months in federal prison and a $20,000 fine on August 27, 2007.  New Jersey official stripped Weldon of his $20,000 per year public pension in February of 2008.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Weldon had served as mayor of Ocean Township since 1991 and as city manager of Asbury Park from November 2000 until he was charged. Weldon, who was also a member of the Ocean Township Planning Board, admitted at his guilty plea that he took cash bribes for assisting three developers to secure zoning and subdivision approvals on three unrelated projects in Ocean Township.

Weldon admitted that in the late spring or early summer of 2001, he accepted $50,000 in cash from a Neptune developer who sought and ultimately received approval to build a 75- unit residential development in Ocean Township. Weldon confirmed that he voted in favor of approving this development as a member of the Ocean Township Council on three 3 separate occasions, including a crucial vote to rezone the property to allow the developer to build as many homes as possible.

Weldon admitted that he hid the $50,000 in his home. The cash was seized by the FBI during the execution of a court-authorized search warrant in January 2002.

Weldon also admitted receiving three separate payments ranging from between $2,000 and $3,000 each from a second developer in connection with a 328-unit residential development in Ocean Township. Weldon admitted that in connection with these payments, he assisted the second developer with applications to amend the site plan for the development in his role as a member of the Planning Board during 2001. Weldon also voted in favor of one of the site plan amendments.

Finally, Weldon admitted accepting a total of $5,000 in two separate payments from a third developer who, in 1998 and 1999, was building homes along Mark Place in Ocean Township.