Ex-mayor of Newark, N.J., due at prison

PETERSBURG, Va., Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Sharpe James, the former mayor of Newark, N.J., Monday headed for a Virginia prison to begin a 27-month prison sentence, an attorney says.

Attorney Gerald Krovatin said his client, James' co-defendant Tamika Riley, will be serving her 15-month sentence in Alderson, W.Va., while the former mayor spends the next 27 months at a minimum-security federal prison camp in Petersburg, The (Newark) Star-Ledger reported.

"It wasn't her first choice, and it's not where the judge recommended she be designated, but that is the decision of the Bureau of Prisons," Krovatin said of Riley.

James was convicted in April of illegally organizing numerous land sales to Riley between 2001 and 2005. Riley purchased nine city redevelopment lots for $46,000 and then made a hefty profit by reselling the property for $665,000.

The jury in James' case found that the Newark mayor did not follow the regulations of his post by disclosing the fact that Riley had once been his mistress.

The Star-Ledger said once James arrives at the prison, he will undergo medical and psychological examinations before being assigned an on-site job based on test results.