A New Jersey judge on Wednesday dismissed racketeering charges against George Norcross III, a onetime Democratic power broker, and all of the people who had been charged with him in a conspiracy to rig a tax-credit deal on the waterfront in Camden, N.J.
The decision was a sweeping blow to the New Jersey attorney general’s office, led by Matthew J. Platkin, who brought charges last year against Mr. Norcross and several other powerful officials, including Mr. Norcross’s brother and the former mayor of Camden, Dana L. Redd.
“The court concludes that the indictment must be dismissed,” a Superior Court judge, Peter E. Warshaw Jr., wrote in a decision dismissing every charge against each of the defendants.
Judge Warshaw determined that “the indictment must be dismissed because its factual allegations do not constitute extortion or criminal coercion as a matter of law.”
He also said that there was no evidence of a racketeering enterprise and that even if there were, the charges were brought too many years after the crimes alleged and were therefore “time-barred.”
Mr. Platkin said that he planned to appeal the decision.
“After years in which the U.S. Supreme Court has consistently cut back on federal public corruption law, and at a time in which the federal government is refusing to tackle corruption, it has never been more important for state officials to take corruption head on,” Mr. Platkin said in a statement.
Mr. Norcross’s lawyers had no immediate comment on the decision, but sent an email noting that it was “momentous news.”
“There will be more details to follow,” they said in an email.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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