The withholding of payments was an “act of retaliation” over an alleged political feud, according to the state’s charges.

Two members of the South Jersey Transportation Authority were indicted Friday in connection with an alleged political retaliation scheme involving withheld payments to an engineering company whose leader defied an unnamed Democratic Party leader.

According to complaints filed in the case, SJTA Board Vice Chairman Christopher Milam, 45, of Sewell, the authority's vice president, and Bryan Bush, 52, also of Sewell, been charged with official misconduct, conspiracy to commit official misconduct and perjury.

The authority declined to comment.

The Democratic leader was not named in the complaint and has not been accused of wrongdoing, but the Philadelphia Inquirer previously identified him as George Norcross III. His spokesman, Dan Fee, said in a statement: “As we have said numerous times and in previous public statements, Mr. Norcross had no involvement in the South Jersey Transportation Authority matter. »

The charges, filed by the New Jersey Attorney General's Office, alleged that Milam and Bush conspired to prevent, for political purposes, the payment of invoices submitted to the board by a civil engineering firm. Their action effectively cut off compensation to the company for work it had already done for the authority, prosecutors say.

The complaint specifically referenced a “political feud” involving “a leader of the South Jersey Democratic Party,” identified in previous reports and confirmed by sources as Norcross, and a Mercer County commissioner over his failure “to remain neutral during the Democratic primary.” for Mercer County Executive.

The company was also not named in the complaint, but had previously been identified by several media outlets as T&M Associates of Middletown.

The SJTA operates the Atlantic City Expressway, Atlantic City International Airport, and parking lots in Atlantic City.

The state's long-running investigation was detailed earlier this year by The Philadelphia Inquirer, which reported that the South Jersey Transportation Authority board voted multiple times in early 2023 not to approve invoices from Middletown-based T&M Associates, which held a contract for engineering and construction management work. All other suppliers were paid during this period.

The Inquirer and Politico reported that the decision to stop the payments came after a meeting between Norcross and T&M Vice President John Cimino, who is also a Mercer County commissioner, regarding an endorsement in a contested race to Mercer County Executive. After Cimino refused, Norcross insurance brokerage Conner Strong & Buckelew abruptly dropped T&M as a client, Politico reported.

The investigation is the result of a still-ongoing investigation into Camden and development deals first reported by NJ Advance Media more than a year ago.

The complaint was unsealed Friday, referring to Cimino only as “an employee of the engineering company” and a Mercer County commissioner, who had defied the instructions of a “South Jersey Democratic Party leader to remain neutral in Democratic primary for Mercer County executive.”

Cimino did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Prosecutors said the decision to withhold payment from the company — agreed to by Milam and Bush in private conversations — “would have been retaliatory,” to punish the Mercer County commissioner who failed to comply with the order to remain neutral.

According to the complaint, Milam and Bush voted at three SJTA board meetings in 2023 following behind-the-scenes discussions to block the authority from making legitimate payments owed to the engineering company, that the two men “would have targeted for political reasons”. »

Before their votes, Milam sent a text message to Bush on February 8, 2023 in which he stated: “They cut off South Jersey in Mercer County, so now we're voting no.” »

Prosecutors said both men knew they had no legitimate basis for voting in refusing the payments.

The complaint charged that Milam and Bush's votes against approving the compensation prevented the authority from reaching the five votes needed for approval. As a result, during these three months, the company's invoices for services rendered were not approved and remained unpaid, with additional invoices piling up each month.

In a statement, state Attorney General Mattew Platkin said the investigation sends a clear message.

“No matter how connected or powerful you are, if there is evidence to suggest that you used your position and taxpayer dollars for retaliation or political gain, we will hold you accountable,” he said. -he declares. “And if you lie to a grand jury, as is alleged here, to cover up your conduct, you will also answer for that.”

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Ted Sherman can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL