Former South Jersey transit official pleads guilty in political revenge case

A former South Jersey Transportation Authority commissioner and Philadelphia union leader accused by a New Jersey grand jury of using public office to retaliate against a political foe entered a guilty plea deal Wednesday that will likely keep him out of prison.

The grand jury last year indicted Bryan Bush and Christopher Milam, a current SJTA commissioner and former vice chair, on six counts of conspiracy, official misconduct, and perjury.

Prosecutors accused the two Gloucester County men of conspiring in 2023 to deny payment to a contractor that had allegedly fallen out of favor with George E. Norcross III., a Democratic South Jersey powerbroker, and with lying to a grand jury about their reasons for rejecting payments.

They were first charged in 2024, just days before Norcross was indicted for racketeering in a case that’s since been dropped. (Norcross recently filed a defamation lawsuit against The Inquirer.)

Bush, who was represented by Robert Agre of Agre & St. John in Haddonfield, pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction in the fourth degree — and agreed not to hold public employment. In exchange, prosecutors dropped the remaining charges and recommended probation. He agreed to comply with conditions in a Sept. 17 letter from the state, which prosecutors did not make available on Wednesday.

Milam, whose term as commissioner officially ended earlier this year yet remains in the position, rejected prosecutors’ offer. His attorney, Charles Fiore of Charles Fiore Law Offices in Williamstown, is seeking Pretrial Intervention (PTI), a program that can help first-time offenders get charges dropped by “gaining skills to straighten out personal problems in order to avoid future arrests,” according to New Jersey Courts. He appeared in court remotely on Zoom.

Obstructing the administration of law has a maximum sentence of 18 months in state prison, Judge Donna Taylor said in court. Taylor rejected a motion to dismiss the case in early July.

In court, Bush admitted withholding information from prosecutors that would have helped the investigation into the nonpayment of money to T&M Associates, a Middletown, N.J.-based engineering firm, for its contract with the SJTA.

Bush told The Inquirer he will keep his job as the business manager of the Sheet Metal Workers Local 19, an influential union in Philadelphia.

“I’m just trying my attorney’s judgment on all of this,” Bush told The Inquirer on his way out of the courtroom at Atlantic County Criminal Court on Wednesday.

Dan Prochilo, a spokesperson for Attorney General Jennifer Davenport, whoinherited this case from former Attorney General Matthew Platkin, said Wednesday that the office “is committed to investigating and fighting for accountability in any case where public officials abuse their positions of public trust.”

Davenport did not pursue Platkin’s case against Norcross, declining to appeal a court ruling that dismissed it.

‘Political suicide’

Milam’s lawyer argued that the case centers on Norcross — though he is not a defendant — and that prosecutors used it to strengthen their separate case against him, according to court documents. He noted that the power broker was mentioned 50 times during the grand jury presentation.

When asked to comment on Bush’s plea, Dan Fee, a spokesperson for Norcross, criticized the former attorney general. Platkin, he said, “tried to pin something on George that just wasn’t true.”

According to court documents, John Cimino, head of T&M Associates, got on Norcross’ bad side after endorsing a different candidate than Norcross directed in a Mercer County Executive Democratic primary. Norcross subsequently said Cimino committed “political suicide” and was off his “Christmas card list.”

Norcross’ firm dropped T&M as a client and his longtime political consultant resigned from T&M, according to the documents. Milam and Bush entered the picture because as SJTA commissioners, they voted against payments for work done by T&M for the agency at three separate meetings.

Detectives discovered texts from Milam to Bush saying he planned to vote against T&M because “they cut South Jersey in Mercer County,” and Bush said he would vote no too. The commissioners eventually approved the invoices after they were directed to do so by SJTA Director Stephen Dougherty, according to the court record.

Milam’s term technically expired in May but he remains a commissioner until Gov. Mikie Sherrill makes an appointment, SJTA spokesperson David Zappariello said. He declined to comment on the case.

The SJTA oversees the Atlantic City Expressway and Atlantic City International Airport. It also works on transit efforts across South Jersey like the new South Jersey Connects bus system.

Bush’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 10.