School official admits bribes

0 Comments | Philadelphia Inquirer, The, December, 2007 | by George Anastasia Inquirer Staff Writer

The president of the Pleasantville Board of Education pleaded guilty yesterday to attempted extortion, admitting that he accepted a series of bribes in an FBI contract-rigging sting that began in Atlantic County and spread to several North Jersey communities. James Pressley, 23, entered his plea during a brief hearing before U.S.

District Judge Jerome R. Simandle in Camden. Pressley was one of 11 public officials, including five current or former members of the problem-plagued Pleasantville Board of Education, caught up in the investigation dubbed "Operation Broken Boards." Others charged included two North Jersey assemblymen and the mayor of Passaic. Most have pleaded guilty or are negotiating plea deals with authorities. The FBI, using a front company called Coastal...