Just nine days after his inauguration, embattled Clark, N.J. Mayor Sal Bonaccorso resigned from office as part of a plea bargain that also required he plead guilty to criminal charges.
Bonaccorso confessed in court to using township property and employees to benefit his private landscaping and oil storage tank removal company, according to a statement from the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office.
He pleaded guilty on Friday to conspiring to commit official misconduct and forgery, and in exchange, prosecutors will recommend he be sentenced to three years probation and fined $15,000.
The deal also bars 64-year-old Bonaccorso from holding public office or employment, triggering his immediate resignation just more than a week into his seventh term. He easily reclaimed the mayor’s office back in November, despite the misconduct allegations and a racism scandal.
His company, Bonaccorso & Son LLC, has also been banned from bidding for any public contracts, entering into any public contracts or conducting any business with the state or any government body. In addition, the company will not be permitted to conduct, or contract to conduct, any storage tank removals for the next three years.
An investigation into Bonaccorso revealed that he used township equipment, including computers and fax machines, and relied on staff to carry out tasks for his company while they were being paid by the township. He also stored records for his business at the mayor’s office.
Authorities also found he filed a series of forged permit applications across nearly two dozen municipalities, enabling his landscaping company to improperly and unlawfully obtain permits to remove hundreds of underground tanks.
Bonaccorso’s attorney, Robert Stahl, told NJ Advanced Media his client illegally utilized services amounting to less than $200.
“Mayor Bonaccorso decided that the best course forward for his health, his family and the town he so dearly loves and has devoted more than two decades to, was to resolve this matter by way of plea,” Stahl said.
Bonaccorso previously faced calls for his resignation back in 2022 after he was recorded making racist comments about minorities and sexist comments about female police officers. He apologized at the time but he refused to step down.
Clark is located roughly 13 miles southwest of Newark.