Lawrence Durr, the former mayor of Chesterfield Township, has been indicted on charges of official misconduct and speculating or wagering on official action or information.
Durr was charged after allegedly making a deal with a developer to sell a 104 acre farm and using his position to assist the same developer in building a residential and commercial project at another location. Over the course of several years, Durr allegedly used his position to push development projects over government hurdles for Renaissance Properties Inc., and to influence policy decisions regarding farmland projects that he had financial stake in. In all, Durr reportedly has gained close to $400,000 in profit from the purported dealings.
Official misconduct is committed when a public servant, with purpose to obtain a benefit for himself or another or to injure or to deprive another of a benefit, commits an act relating to his office but constituting an unauthorized exercise of his official functions, knowing that such act is unauthorized or he is committing such act in an unauthorized manner. In addition to proving that the offenses actually took place, the prosecution must also show that Durr committed the crime purposefully. If he is convicted, a prison sentence of 20 years could be imposed as well as very heavy fines.
For more information on this case, please access the nj.com article entitled “Former Chesterfield mayor indicted over $2.3M farmland deal.”
