Former Birdsall Exec Loses License Three Years After Guilty Plea

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — Fall-out from New Jersey's 2017 Birdsall pay-to-play scandal continues:

A New Brunswick man who was once a top executive at the Birdsall engineering firm has now had his engineering license revoked by the state, said the state Attorney General. This comes after he was convicted in 2017 for evading New Jersey’s campaign finance laws.

James Johnston, 58, a resident of New Brunswick, previously pleaded guilty to a fourth-degree charge of making prohibited corporate political contributions through employees.

Prosecutors say Johnson and other top executives at Birdsall funneled more than $1 million in corporate political contributions — disguised as bonus checks — through Birdsall's employees, in an attempt to hide the fact that Birdsall was making political donations. He was sentenced to 270 days in the county jail as a condition of a term of two years of probation.

Johnston is the former president of the Environmental Services Group at Birdsall. Robert Gerard, 59, of Wall, the former chief marketing officer for Birdsall, also pleaded guilty.

This week, the state Board of Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, and the state Board of Professional Planners both revoked Johnston’s licenses to practice as a professional engineer and a professional planner in the state of New Jersey. They also barred him from applying for any professional license in the state for a minimum period of five years.

The Boards' final consent orders were filed Tuesday. The revocation of Johnston's license shows how strictly the state of New Jersey wants to enforce its campaign finance laws.

“Individuals who abuse their professional credentials and the public trust in order to violate our campaign finance laws should be prepared to face severe consequences,” said Attorney General Gurbir Grewal. "They face not only jail time and monetary penalties, but also loss of the licenses they rely on to earn their livelihood.”

The scheme was complicated: Instead of Birdsall, as a company, making corporate political contributions — which would have disqualified Birdsall from getting government contracts — shareholders and employees of the firm instead made personal political contributions of $300 or less, which do not have to be reported.

Multiple personal checks were then bundled together at Birdsall and sent to the appropriate campaign or political organization, said the Attorney General.

The shareholders and employees were then illegally reimbursed by Birdsall, directly or indirectly, through bonus payments, said the AG.

This scheme continued for more than six years and involved more than $1 million in political contributions, said the AG.

Eight Birdsall executives and employees pleaded guilty to criminal charges, as did the company itself.

Under his criminal guilty plea, Johnston is debarred for 10 years from personally bidding on public contracts in New Jersey or holding an interest of five percent or more in any company that bids for such contracts.

Added Acting Director of New Jersey Consumer Affairs Paul Rodríguez:

“The resolution of this case should send a clear message to all licensed professionals who may be tempted to violate the public trust and confidence.”