N.J. politico nabbed in sting found dead

JERSEY CITY, N.J., July 29 (UPI) -- A veteran New Jersey political consultant charged last week in a corruption sting was found dead in his Jersey City home, police said.

Police said they were trying to determine whether Jack Shaw, 61, one of 44 people arrested in the federal investigation, committed suicide, the Newark (N.J.) Star-Ledger reported Wednesday.

Shaw was among the elected officials, political operatives and members of the Syrian and Jewish communities in Deal, N.J., and Brooklyn, N.Y., authorities arrested after a months-long corruption investigation. Shaw was accused of accepting a $10,000 cash bribe from an FBI informant and suggesting the informant give $10,000 to a Jersey City official, later identified as Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who has not been charged.

A major operative in Hudson County, N.J., politics for decades, Shaw was discovered dead Tuesday in his apartment in an upscale waterfront complex. Jersey City police and Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio declined to categorize his death pending an autopsy. Three officials with knowledge of the investigation said many bottles of pills were found near Shaw's body, the newspaper said.

Shaw's death came on the same day Secaucus, N.J., Mayor Dennis Elwell, one of six elected officials arrested in the sting, resigned his post.