Morristown Attorney Pleads Guilty In Election Scheme

MORRISTOWN, NJ — An attorney who lives in Morristown pleaded guilty Tuesday to third-degree tampering with public records. Elizabeth Valandingham faces time in county jail for her role in covering up illegal campaign contributions, according to the Office of Attorney General.

Valandingham, who skated under the name "Lawless Lizzie" for the Jerzey Derby Brigade roller derby team, also must forfeit her law license, pay a $75,00 penalty and get debarred from public contracts for 10 years. The state will recommend she serve 364 days in county jail.

Sentencing is set for June 25.

The state charged Valandingham last June and accused her of procuring legal work from Bloomfield and Mt. Arlington after falsely attesting that her firm — O'Donnell McCord — made no campaign contributions to candidates in those towns.

In the guilty plea, Valandingham admitted to submitting fraudulent proposals for government contracts for the law firm where she worked, failing to disclose political contributions illegally made through straw donors. Valandingham also confessed to submitting false reports to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission on behalf of the law firm.

"Elizabeth sincerely and unequivocally accepted responsibility for her actions today," Athony J. Iacullo, her attorney, told Patch. "We are now preparing to address factors which we hope will establish the necessary mitigation for Elizabeth to maintain her freedom at the time of sentencing."

Valandingham was charged in connection with conduct from 2012-17 at the law firm where she worked. One of her duties included preparing and submitting annual proposals to local governments to garner public contracts for legal services.

She and an unnamed co-conspirator recruited friends and family to act as "straw donors" — people who made political contributions and would get reimbursed by cash for those donations — according to the Office of Attorney General. Valandingham indicated that the firm made no political contributions in that time, but they actually contributed tens of thousands in straw donations, according to authorities.

The attorney submitted proposals to provide legal services for the Township of Bloomfield for 2014-17, according to the OAG. She submitted a similar proposal to provide services for the Borough of Mount Arlington for 2017.

Both towns required Valandingham to disclose reportable political contributions the firm made in the prior year of each contract. For each year, Valandingham indicated the firm made no contributions, the OAG said. Bloomfield awarded the firm contracts for legal services worth $120,000, while Valandingham landed a lucrative contract from Mount Arlington worth $470,000, authorities said.

“Fair elections and open public contracts are vital to our democracy, and that is why we have strong laws to safeguard them,” said Thomas Eicher, director of the Attorney General's Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. “This guilty plea reflects our determination to hold dishonest operators accountable if they break those laws and threaten to undermine those critical bulwarks of good government.”

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