Michael Shaffer Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Extortion

Michael Schaffer, North Hudson Sewerage Authority Commissioner and associate of ex-Hoboken Mayor Peter Cammarano, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion charges in Newark Federal Court Monday, according to U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman. 

Schaffer, 59, admitted he gave $25,000 in illicit cash campaign contributions to . 

Schaffer appeared before United States District Judge Jose Linares, the same judge to whom Cammarano plead guilty. 

When Cammarano was councilman and candidate for the position of mayor, Schaffer accepted three unlawful cash campaign contributions totaling $15,000 from a cooperating witness ("CW"), who purported to be a real estate developer, Fishman's office announced. Schaffer also admitted that on July 16, 2009, after Cammarano had been elected and sworn in as mayor, he accepted an additional $10,000 illicit cash campaign contribution from the "CW," according to the U.S. Attorney's press release. 

Schaffer admitted that the $25,000 in cash payments were in exchange for Cammarano's future official assistance, action and influence in Hoboken government matters pertaining to the CW's anticipated real estate development projects, according to the U.S. Attorney. 

Schaffer's sentence has not yet been determined.