Citing ‘isolated incident’ and good deeds, judge sentences Mary Dougherty to year’s probation in state pay-to-play probe

Mary Dougherty, lower right, is sentenced at virtual hearing, March 18, 2021. Top L-R: Deputy Attorney General John Nicodemo, Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor. Lower left: Defense attorney Matthew Beck. Screenshot by Kevin Coughlin
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Asserting that “this isolated incident certainly doesn’t define her life,” a judge on Thursday sentenced Mary Dougherty to one year’s probation for falsifying a campaign finance report when she ran for Morris County freeholder in 2018.

Dougherty, the wife of Morristown Mayor Tim Dougherty, could have faced five years in prison if convicted of a bribery charge that the state Attorney General dropped in exchange for her guilty plea last month.

“I made a mistake that I wish I never made, Your Honor,” Mary Dougherty, 60, told Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor during a 30-minute virtual court appearance. “For that, I am extremely remorseful and extremely apologetic.”

The judge cited 20 testimonials submitted by friends, family and community members, citing Mary Dougherty’s triumph over alcoholism and decades of charitable works that amounted to “a life dedicated to helping others.

“The letters show she is a selfless, honest, kind, generous, charitable individual, very caring. She is supportive of others, and she is faithful, to her church, to her religion, to her family, and to her friends and her community,” Taylor said.

Mary Dougherty was one of five public figures charged in December 2019 with promising government contracts in exchange for taking thousands of dollars in bribes from a person now known to be Morristown attorney Matt O’Donnell, a “cooperating witness” in the state pay-to-play investigation.

The other four defendants were indicted earlier this year and their cases are pending. They have denied the allegations.

Mary Dougherty has forfeited the $10,000 that she accepted. Taylor did not impose additional fines or community service, saying the latter would “take away from the enjoyment she gets from helping others” already.

She must pay court fees, and submit a DNA sample. There was no discussion of her realty license.  The judge could have imposed up to five years’ probation — or even 18 months in jail, the maximum for the fourth degree crime of false swearing.

A COFFEE CUP

Describing Dougherty’s wrongdoing as “truly aberrational,” defense attorney Matthew Beck asked for maximum leniency, arguing she already has paid a steep price in legal fees and “public shame.”

“Google doesn’t go away,” Beck told the judge.

But state Deputy Attorney General John Nicodemo said probation is a punishment, and he asked for an appropriate term to deter others from breaking the law.

By knowingly signing a false campaign disclosure report, Dougherty violated the public trust, Nicodemo said. “It was not fair to the public, and it certainly was not fair to the other candidates,” he said.

For years, Mary Dougherty served in leadership positions with the Morristown and Morris County Democratic organizations. She also is former chairperson of the town planning board, where Matt O’Donnell once served as counsel.

In virtual court last month, Dougherty admitted taking $10,000 in a coffee cup in September 2018, and then returning the money and asking instead for four $2,500 checks–within the individual legal limit– from “straw donors.”

She was trying to raise money for her first campaign, Beck elaborated on Thursday, and “one of the people she was raising money from was a friend and trusted lawyer, Matt O’Donnell…”

After a lengthy meeting in a coffee shop, O’Donnell “got up and handed her a coffee cup that she couldn’t see in. And he said, ‘Here it is,’ you know, and he leaves,”  Beck said.

When Dougherty discovered the $10,000, she called O’Donnell and left a voicemail.

“‘I just can’t do it. Thanks. But I can’t. But I can take checks for my campaign,'” Beck quoted her as saying. “And that’s where she went wrong.”

No records have surfaced of any charges against O’Donnell, most recently a tax appeals lawyer for Morristown, and former legal counsel to numerous towns.

One defendant in the state case has questioned the prosecution’s deal with O’Donnell; complete details have not yet emerged. O’Donnell has declined requests for comment, and the Attorney General’s office has not commented about O’Donnell.

The other defendants are former Morris Freeholder John Cesaro, former Mt. Arlington Councilman John Windish, former Jersey City school board President Sudhan Thomas, and former state Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell, no relation to Matt O’Donnell.

TESTIMONIALS

Factors the judge considered included letters and statements describing how Mary Dougherty overcame alcoholism in her late 20s, met her husband in recovery, and raised his then-3-year-old son as her own.

That son, her real estate partner, Ryan Dougherty, wrote that she is the person he trusts most in the world.

There also were letters from people in recovery whom Mary Dougherty has mentored, and from Mrs. Wilson’s, a women’s halfway house where she has volunteered; and from Family Promise of Morris County, where she has spent overnights helping at its homeless shelter.

The judge cited her efforts on behalf of the Morristown Neighborhood House, the Morristown Women in Business, and a quarter-century teaching catechism at Assumption Church. There were stories of her helping critically ill family members, and impromptu visits to check in on ailing relatives of friends.

Noting these deeds predated the offense, and thus were not contrived to curry favor, Judge Taylor said he was convinced Dougherty was remorseful for her “error in judgment.”

Appearing on camera from an office conference room, Dougherty ended her brief remarks with a promise to the judge.

“I consider myself as someone of dignity and respect. And I can’t believe that I’m actually standing in front of you for sentencing for violating the law. For that I am extremely remorseful and extremely apologetic,” she said.

“I promise you that I will continue to serve my community, albeit not as an elected official. And that you will never hear from me again.”

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3 COMMENTS

  1. Pays to be the mayor’s wife when you’re doing crimes.

    Imagine this leniency being granted to a normal person, this falling all over themselves to give Mary a chance.

    The coffee cup is just the tip of the iceberg, I’m sure.

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