Published: Thursday, March 31, 2011, 8:56 PM    

Updated: Friday, April 01, 2011, 1:56 PM

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/03/nj_developer_gets_prison_term.html

JERSEY CITY — At turns crying, shaking his leg and bobbing up and down, a small-time developer begged for leniency from a federal judge today, saying he broke the law for the first time after being persuaded by FBI informant Solomon Dwek's pleas for financial help.

Now, said developer Moshe Altman, he was deeply remorseful.

But U.S. District Judge Jose L. Linares did not appear to be convinced by Altman’s tale and sentenced him to nearly 3½ years in prison for money laundering and helping to bribe a Jersey City building inspector. The term was within the sentencing guideline range of 41 to 51 months.

Altman, 41, had a real estate development office in Union City and was an early target in the investigation that led to the FBI’s sweeping 2009 public corruption bust. More than 44 people were taken down in New Jersey and New York. Altman, who was among those charged, pleaded guilty last year to laundering $668,000 for undercover FBI informant Dwek. He also admitted to arranging a $20,000 payoff to the inspector.

The developer with a sixth-grade education arrived at the court in Newark today backed by nearly 20 family members and friends from his Orthodox Jewish community in Monsey, N.Y. Mostly wearing black, the men and women took seats on different sides of the courtroom, as they would in an Orthodox synagogue. One woman chanted Scripture, swaying back and forth in her seat, as Altman’s wife wept continuously during the hearing.

Then Altman — a soft-spoken man with hunched shoulders — stood before Linares to plead for no prison time.

"I beg of you, your honor, to see if there is anything less, besides taking me away from my family," he said, crying softly. He said Dwek came to him asking for help, saying he faced bankruptcy and needed to have illegally gained money laundered to feed his children.

"I took pity on someone who said he was in bankruptcy; they don’t have enough to eat," Altman said. "Yes, it was wrong and it was stupid by me. ... Concentrating on helping a fellow person was really clouding my judgment."

But Linares pointed out the money laundering had gone on for two years, from 2007 to 2009, and said it was not a quick, one-time act. He noted repeatedly that Altman has not filed tax returns since 2002.

"People who associated with Dwek did do a crime," said the judge, who has presided over most of the Dwek-linked prosecutions in New Jersey. "Each of these people — who generally were involved with Dwek — never had any qualms that he was not a law-abiding citizen. (They were) looking to make a quick buck, launder money."

Altman collected fees exceeding $109,000 for laundering Dwek’s money. As part of his sentence, he’ll have to forfeit the money. He has admitted that he believed the money he laundered for Dwek came from funds potentially owed in Dwek’s bankruptcy, and from Dwek's sale of counterfeit handbags.

Altman faced up to 20 years in prison. In imposing the minimum in the sentencing-guideline range, Linares appeared more swayed by Altman’s being a committed family man who worked with charities than by his entreaties that he was "duped" by Dwek. The judge also noted that Altman had no previous run-ins with the law and that he had given the government information after his arrest.

Altman was the 24th defendant to plead guilty in the FBI sting, which netted mayors, assemblymen, rabbis, public officials and even someone accused of offering to sell a black-market kidney. Dwek became the FBI’s central informant in the investigation that lasted more than two years after he was charged in a $50 million bank fraud. He is awaiting sentencing, which will not happen until the more than 44 defendants' cases are resolved.

Unwittingly, Altman became a nexus in the FBI's probe. He was a bridge that turned a long-running money-laundering investigation into the biggest public corruption bust in New Jersey history.

Dwek and Altman were brought together by Shimon Haber, a real estate developer who had done business with both men. Dwek, like Altman, was a member of an Orthodox Jewish community. Haber pleaded guilty to money laundering in January 2010.

Altman eventually arranged for Dwek to bribe building inspector John Guarini. The FBI used Guarini to connect Dwek with other political contacts, which ultimately led to meetings with dozens of elected officials in Hudson County, several of whom were arrested and charged in the sweep.

Guarini is scheduled for trial later this year.