Joe Cryan took mob money & wants to abolish crime-fighting agency

State Sen. Joseph Cryan wants New Jersey to sever ties with the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, an law enforcement agency that has been credited with breaking up La Cosa Nostra organized crime groups, associates of which have financially supported the lawmaker’s political campaigns.

The Waterfront Commission conducted a major investigation that resulted in the conviction of a numerous Genovese crime family associates, one of whom was a once-powerful longshoremen’s union boss who was among Cryan’s top financial contributors in his earliest campaign for the Legislature.

Genovese crime family associate Albert Cernadas, Sr. was among crooked politician Joseph Cryan’s earliest political campaign contributors. Click here to download proof that mobster Cernadas contributed $875 to crooked Cryan’s 2005 campaign for the General Assembly.

Seth D. DuCharme, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, credited the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor for its assistance during an investigation as recently as January 15, 2021, when 11 Gambino organized crime family members and associates pleaded guilty in federal court before United States Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann in Brooklyn to crimes ranging from racketeering conspiracy and fraud, to obstruction of justice and related offenses.

Despite these recent and integral crime-fighting accomplishments, New Jersey has taken steps in recent years to dissolve the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor.

The U.S. Supreme Court unexpectedly called for the U.S. Solicitor General to step into the legal battle to kill the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor — a bi-state agency created more than 65 years ago to police the region’s ports.

The agency was created in the 1950s to combat entrenched organized crime influences at the ports of New York and New Jersey, of the type dramatized in the 1954 film, “On the Waterfront.” Those illegal activities enriched the Mafia at the expense of the American taxpayer, harmed companies by their pernicious presence and undermined the U.S. government.

Gov. Chris Christie signed legislation—which Cryan supported—to withdraw New Jersey from its compact with New York.

A Genovese crime family associate who was convicted for corruption involving a dock worker union was among Cryan’s earliest financial contributors.

Albert Cernadas, a former International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) international vice president who headed Newark Local 1235 from 1981 to 2006, pleaded guilty to conspiring to extort Christmastime tributes from union members along with other Genovese soldiers and associates.

Cernadas contributed $875 to Cryan’s 2005 campaign for the General Assembly.

Cryan accepted $750 from Cernadas Sr. in 2004 and another $150 in 2005, according to the state Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC). Cernadas Sr. is a former president of International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) Local 1235, which from 2001 to 2009, gave $18,725 to New Jersey politicians.

Founded by Lucky Luciano, the Genovese crime family is one of the “Five Families” that dominate organized crime activities in New York City and New Jersey as part of the American Mafia.
Cryan was later instrumental in getting the mob associate’s son, Albert Cernadas Jr, appointed to a job in the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

The younger Cernadas’ reported salary in 2015 was $156,750 according to https://openpayrolls.com/albert-cernadas-jr-30490383

That is the year Joseph Bonney reported on Jan 16, 2015 that Albert Cernadas Sr., a former high-ranking officer in the International Longshoremen’s Association, was sentenced Friday to three years’ probation and fined $50,000 for his role in a decades-long mob extortion racket on the New Jersey waterfront.

Cryan has his own crime family going. His father was indicted on corruption charges in 1979, while holding office as Essex County Sheriff, but he escaped conviction on a technicality. Cryan’s son was jailed for violating a probation sentence handed down after he brutalized a man with a baseball bat while two of his friends punched and kicked the victim.

A federal judge ordered racketeering and kickback charges against former Essex County Sheriff John Cryan dropped, after halting his trial because of prosecution errors in drafting the charges.

Cryan’s move to eliminate a law enforcement agency that has harried mafia members who financially contributed to his political campaigns is brazen.

These links to authoritative sources will allow readers to independently confirm the veracity of this report:

https://www.wcnyh.gov/news/USA_EDNY_Press_Release_1-20-2011.pdf
https://unionnewsdaily.com/news/county/39151
https://www.fbi.gov/contact-us/field-offices/newyork/news/press-releases/genovese-organized-crime-family-associate-sentenced-to-28-months-in-prison-for-racketeering-conspiracyhttps://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/union-officials-plead-guilty-extortion-conspiracy-involving-christmastime-tribute
https://www.justice.gov/sites/default/files/usao-nj/legacy/2013/11/29/Depiro%2C%20Stephen%20et%20al.%20S2%20Indictment.pdfhttps://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/genovese-organized-crime-family-soldier-sentenced-41-months-prison-racketeering
https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/former-union-president-sentenced-18-months-prison-extortion-conspiracy-involving
https://www.justice.gov/usao-nj/pr/genovese-organized-crime-family-soldier-and-two-crime-family-associates-admit
http://www.fivefamiliesnyc.com/2011/01/mobster-made-campaign-contributions.html