‘A crime thriller with no crime:’ George Norcross’ lawyers urge judge to throw out racketeering case

George E. Norcross III urged a judge Tuesday to throw out racketeering charges filed against him and five allies earlier this year, deriding state prosecutors’ case as one filled with “trite” and “banal” allegations that amount to little more than “a crime thriller with no crime.”

In a motion to dismiss the case, lawyers for the South Jersey power broker argued that the state’s sweeping indictment failed to detail any specific criminal activity. Instead, they defended what prosecutors have described as Norcross’ attempts to extort rival developers on the Camden waterfront as nothing more than “hardball business negotiations.”

What’s more, they accused prosecutors of building their case on decade-old, time-barred allegations and using faulty legal justification to argue that they fell within the statute of limitations.

“The state’s 111-page indictment reads less like a legal document and more like a screenplay for a putative summer blockbuster. Except the script is missing some critical plot lines,” the filing states. “This indictment has no business in a court of law. It is both too trite and too generous to call it an indictment in search of a crime.”

The lawyers added: “If it’s a crime to warn of ‘consequences’ if a deal is not reached or to use expletives in doing so, New Jersey needs to build more prisons.”

The 55-page filing — authored by Norcross attorneys Michael Critchley and Yaakov Roth, as well as Kevin Marino, a lawyer for Norcross’ brother Philip, who is also charged in the case — represents the first substantive legal response from the defendants since Attorney General Matt Platkin unveiled the 13-count case against them in July.

» READ MORE: Read the full 13-count indictment against South Jersey power broker George Norcross

Also charged are Norcross’ longtime lawyer William Tambussi, former Camden Mayor Dana L. Redd, and two businessmen — John J. O’Donnell and Sidney Brown — who partnered with Norcross on development deals. They have all entered not-guilty pleas.

In arguing for the cases’ dismissal Tuesday, defense lawyers sought to recast the indictment’s portrayal of Norcross as a bully who used his considerable political clout to corruptly acquire real estate worth millions along Camden’s waterfront while muscling out rivals and manipulating a 2013 New Jersey tax credit program to line his own pockets.

Instead, they painted the Camden County insurance executive, the board chair of Cooper University Health Care, and, for more than a quarter century, the head of South Jersey’s powerful Democratic machine as a benevolent civic leader with a plan to bring about a “renaissance” in his hometown of Camden, a city plagued by decades of high crime and disinvestment.

“The basic ‘plan’ for George Norcross and others committed to the future of Camden was to invest large sums of money in the waterfront to revitalize that part of the city,” the defense motion said. “The plan required skill, coordination and large sums of money.”

Those cast by prosecutors as victims of Norcross’ alleged misdeeds were instead, as the lawyers told it, obstacles standing in the way of Camden’s revitalization for their own personal and professional gain.

“The indictment tells a story of defendants hustling, cajoling, lobbying and networking — all in an effort to push Camden’s waterfront redevelopment past those who would stymie it,” they wrote. “But all of that arm-twisting and maneuvering is routine in both business and politics. Much of it is constitutionally protected. None of it is remotely criminal.”

For instance, the indictment accuses Norcross and his allies of extorting Philadelphia real estate developer Carl Dranoff in 2016 to give up property rights he held that stood in the way of a planned development. When Dranoff initially balked at Norcross’ terms for buying those rights, Norcross, prosecutors say, told Dranoff he would “f— you up like you’ve never been f— up before,” adding that he would make sure the developer never did business in Camden again.

» READ MORE: Philly developer Carl Dranoff sues George Norcross and his brother Philip following criminal racketeering indictment

In their filing Tuesday, Norcross’ lawyers maintained that tough talk was justified as Dranoff, a sophisticated dealmaker in his own right, was “dragging his feet” in the negotiations and endangering a deal that could benefit Camden.

Ultimately, they noted, Dranoff was paid almost $2 million in exchange for relinquishing those property rights, and New Jersey law carves out exceptions for certain threats of economic harm made in the context of business negotiations.

“If Dranoff single-handedly torpedoed the project heralding Camden’s rebirth, of course he would become toxic ‘in that town,’” the lawyers wrote. “Sure, Norcross’ language might have gotten heated, but using expletives in business negotiations is not a crime.”

Of Anthony Perno, the former CEO of the economic development nonprofit Cooper’s Ferry Partnership, who prosecutors have said was threatened in 2014 with the loss of his job if he resisted orders from Norcross and his allies to partner with their preferred developer on another waterfront project, defense lawyers said Tuesday that “bossing someone around is not a crime.”

They maintained that alleged threat was passed along by Susan Bass Levin, then the chair of the nonprofit’s board and who is not charged in the case. Prosecutors have not presented any evidence that Norcross or any of his codefendants were aware of or planned to act on her words, the lawyers said.

What’s more, Philip Norcross, who had earlier ordered Perno to partner with the Norcross-favored developer, had a legitimate interest in steering that partnership as he served at the time as the head of the Cooper Foundation, a philanthropic entity that held a seat on Cooper’s Ferry’s board and therefore had “a voice in the management of its affairs.”

The defense motion Tuesday also took aim at the allegations involving Redd, the former Camden mayor who was charged with official misconduct for allegedly using her office to advance Norcross’ business interests.

Norcross’ lawyers noted the indictment “barely mentions her [and] where it does, it depicts garden-variety politics — not anything ethically untoward, much less unlawful.”

Specifically, Redd is accused of not returning Dranoff’s calls during his alleged falling-out with Norcross and instructing Perno, the Cooper’s Ferry CEO, to meet with Philip Norcross during his planned development deal.

“So what?” the defense retorted Tuesday. “It is exceedingly common for officials to ‘arrange meetings’ among constituents to help resolve local disputes. … The indictment seems to bristle at the fact that the mayor was especially responsive to the wishes of certain constituents. But that is politics, not a crime.”

A spokesperson for the Attorney General’s Office said prosecutors are “confident in our charges and look forward to responding in our briefs to the court.”

Mercer County Superior Court Judge Peter Warshaw has given prosecutors until Nov. 22 to formally respond in court.

Read the motion: