POSTED: 4:44 p.m. EDT September 26, 2002
UPDATED: 6:38 p.m. EDT September 27, 2002
NEWARK, N.J. -- Prosecutors seeking leniency for a businessman who admitted giving illegal campaign contributions to Sen. Robert Torricelli said the man led federal agents to shops where he said he bought antique sculptures, rugs, jewelry and appliances for the senator.
David Chang also spent hours reviewing credit card records and other information showing what he said he bought for Torricelli and how much he paid, prosecutors wrote in a memo seeking a lenient sentence for Chang. It was made public Thursday.
Torricelli, a New Jersey Democrat, was never charged in the three-year investigation, but a Senate ethics committee reprimanded him. The issue has been central in his re-election campaign against Republican Douglas Forrester.
The senator has admitted that on three occasions he accepted gifts from Chang that he did not report under Senate rules, including a television set and two pairs of earrings. He has denied any other gifts.
In the memo sent in May to U.S. District Judge Alfred Wolin, prosecutors said Chang's efforts "greatly advanced" the investigation. However, they acknowledged that Chang's "serious credibility problems" would make him useless before a jury.
The nine-page letter unsealed Thursday never mentions Torricelli by name, referring to him as the "Public Official." It was made public over Torricelli's objections at the request of media organizations, who sought to have it unsealed before the November election.
The memo was signed by Acting U.S. Attorney James Comey and dated May 21.
Wolin sentenced Chang in May to 18 months in prison, less than the maximum 27 months, but observed that Chang's "deceptive and obstructive" behavior ruined him as a potential witness in any trial.
Torricelli said he fought to keep the sentencing memo private in part because he believes he has been unfairly treated by the media and he feared statements from it would be taken out of context.
"After all the sensational and false allegations about many of these gifts, it remains that there was never a watch, suits or any of these other items which I was falsely accused," Torricelli said Thursday. "It just never happened and it's time for people to accept."
The investigation into Torricelli's finances ended in January, with seven people having admitted making illegal contributions to his 1996 Senate campaign.
According to the memo, Chang traveled with agents to New York in order to identify an antique shop where he purchased thousands of dollars of sculptures for the public official.
"Chang also traveled with agents to appliance shops, jewelry shops, and other locations where he went in the company of the Public Official or to purchase items requested by the Public Official," prosecutors wrote.
Prosecutors conceded that some critical aspects of Chang's account of events -- including most of the cash payments -- were uncorroborated. They also acknowledged that Chang's credibility was shaky, citing his past fraudulent conduct, including false testimony in a business dispute.
Wolin made the decision to seal the letter, leading to a four-month effort by lawyers for a media group to have it made public.
The 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled last week that the document should be made public, but court rules could have kept it sealed for at least 45 days -- putting it at Nov. 4, the day before the election. On Thursday, the appeals court ordered it unsealed at the federal courthouse in Newark.
The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Record of Bergen County, WNBC-TV of New York and the American Broadcasting Cos. sought the release of the memo.
The Star-Ledger of Newark filed papers supporting the request.
Copyright 2002 by WNBC.com The Associated Press contributed to this report. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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