Missing Atlantic City mayor found; Update: Mayor resigns

By Michelle Malkin  •  October 9, 2007 06:21 PM

Update 10:30am Eastern 10/10. Mayor resigns, effectively immediately.

***

He was in rehab for unknown reasons.

Looks like the city is moving forward with plans on coping without him. It’s slim pickings, though:

Since then, officials have said he is in an undisclosed hospital receiving unspecified treatments. They have refused to disclose more, citing federal health privacy laws that experts said have been misapplied.

Levy vanished amidst resignation rumors tied to an ongoing federal investigation into his military records.

In November, Levy admitted to The Press of Atlantic City that he had never served in the U.S. Army’s Special Forces, despite years of claims that included his 2005 campaign. The Press reported in January that investigators were probing to see if Levy, a decorated 20-year veteran, had properly received a Combat Infantryman’s Badge that was later used to acquire benefits.

Officials have called for his resignation, while Gov. Jon S. Corzine has said the government is not willing to wait long for a resolution.

Attorney James Leonard said the succession might resemble Jersey City’s mayoral musical chairs that started with former Mayor Gerald McCann being ousted from office in 1992 after he was sentenced to 33 months in prison for defrauding $240,000 from a Florida bank.

City Council President Marilyn Roman then became mayor under state laws that say the head of the governing body succeeds in a vacancy.

Jersey City is officially non-partisan, while Atlantic City candidates have to declare their parties. Leonard, hired by Marsh to review the law, thought there were more similarities than differences.

And as a result, city Democrats are now on standby for a special meeting. Committeewoman Bernice “Sandy” Couch said Evans, the committee president, told her to expect a meeting in the coming days.

Disgraced ex-Council President Craig Callaway and his supporters once dominated the city party. But with Callaway six months into a 40-month federal prison sentence for corruption and other family members under indictment, the Callaway organization’s influence has waned.

New Jersey. Sigh.

Posted in: Corruption

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Comments


  1. #142706
    On October 9th, 2007 at 6:24 pm, gippergirl said:

    He was in rehab???…hmmm…Ann Coulter got in BIG TROUBLE for commenting on someone hiding out in rehab after something they said…

  2. #142712
    On October 9th, 2007 at 6:40 pm, trinitytim said:

    I know a few more Democraps who belong in rehab.

  3. #142714
    On October 9th, 2007 at 6:41 pm, blues said:

    So good to know he’s not really a lying thief,he’s just confused.Entering rehab before facing consequences is an admission of guilt.Oh well,that’s N.J. politics-same as Pa.politics.Nothing new under the sun.

  4. #142717
    On October 9th, 2007 at 6:48 pm, Ron Rockstar said:

    Got I feel horrible. It appears that Levy is just the newest member of the Democrats to develop the LAYSRA disease. (Lying-About-Your-Service-Record-Addiction) I hope he gets all the help he needs in coping with his now pitiful existence.

  5. #142721
    On October 9th, 2007 at 6:58 pm, Boomer said:

    I guess some Democrats actually do have a conscience, which could have drove him over the edge to a failed life of drugs and/or alcohol and/or just a good old fashioned nervous breakdown. Must have been one of those nasty character flaws he picked up during his time in the Military.

  6. #142726
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:11 pm, Katycue said:

    I just knew that’s where they would find him. Nobody seemed too stressed out over his disappearance….

  7. #142727
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:14 pm, Regulus said:

    New Jersey. Sigh.

    Precisely! I spent two years in that state in the early 90s, after returning stateside from a 3-year stay in Japan. Traffic circles and insane drivers, Nuclear Winters, summer heat and humidity that make you want to curl up in a fetal position and die, and wherever you plan on going, 10,000 other people had the same idea ahead of you.

    There are times when I miss Japan. I’m still waiting to experience any such nostalgia for New Jersey.

  8. #142731
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:25 pm, ich dien said:

    I’ve long given my parents thanks for taking me out of New Jersey back in 1929. Of course we landed in the Bay Colony but by the late 1940s I fled there and headed west.

  9. #142737
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:33 pm, mnmike said:

    It’s the Brittany, Mel Gibson syndrome. You get caught and you go to rehab.

  10. #142738
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:35 pm, gippergirl said:

    trinitytim said: “I know a few more Democraps who belong in rehab.”

    aren’t they calling Congress “group” these days?…

  11. #142747
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:45 pm, Jim M. said:

    And here I thought the article was going to say they found him in William Jefferson’s freezer.

  12. #142748
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:47 pm, RedMindBlueState said:

    Next we’ll hear about how he’s “turning his life around.”

  13. #142750
    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:49 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    On October 9th, 2007 at 7:45 pm, Jim M. said:
    And here I thought the article was going to say they found him in William Jefferson’s freezer.

    WJ couldn’t cram 90% of him in his freezer.

  14. #142753
    On October 9th, 2007 at 8:04 pm, mtngrandpa said:

    Is Murtha missing yet???

    Murtha’s Missing — aw shucks, it was just one of his Earmarked Centers.

  15. #142758
    On October 9th, 2007 at 8:27 pm, DesertLover said:

    next thing you’ll hear is how he is reborn and got religion …

  16. #142766
    On October 9th, 2007 at 8:41 pm, On-my-soap-box said:

    On October 9th, 2007 at 8:27 pm, DesertLover said:
    next thing you’ll hear is how he is reborn and got religion …

    Can we call it Paris syndrome? I found JESUS. What is your favorite verse in the Bible? UMMMM, none. How do you like my new bra?….

  17. #142771
    On October 9th, 2007 at 8:50 pm, desertdweller said:

    Maybe Tryphorgetin is addictive.

  18. #142772
    On October 9th, 2007 at 8:57 pm, meatpieandtatters said:

    The morality police have an exclusionary clause in their contract that exonerates all democrat corruption, subterfuge and prevarication.

  19. #142774
    On October 9th, 2007 at 9:09 pm, limmo said:

    So, if Rush calls this guy “phony,” will the Dems yell even louder for his ‘censure’ (Rush’s)? Or, are the dems ok with a real soldier who made up phony service?

  20. #142775
    On October 9th, 2007 at 9:11 pm, limmo said:

    Maybe he’ll come out when he comes out? Didn’t another NJ high official do that, without the rehab that is?

  21. #142778
    On October 9th, 2007 at 9:14 pm, limmo said:

    He’s doing the Marion Berry Success After Progam. He’s already booked on Oprah for the Mia culpa, NOW I’m on the right track epi. No doubt a book deal is being inked as we type. Can re-election be too far down the pike?

  22. #142786
    On October 9th, 2007 at 9:32 pm, almeehan said:

    Newark is a cesspool. So is much of the state. Sad, I used to go to the beach there often as a kid. Didn’t seem as corrupt then. But maybe I didn’t read the newspapers either!

  23. #142795
    On October 9th, 2007 at 10:03 pm, hadsil said:

    “New Jersey and Democrats, perfect together”.

    I should talk. I got Schumer, Clinton, and Spitzer to deal with.

  24. #142897
    On October 10th, 2007 at 2:34 am, T J Green said:

    Back in the good old days, when it came time to handle a toad we pithed ‘em.

  25. #142959
    On October 10th, 2007 at 7:23 am, NJRepublican said:

    NJ is a GREAT State! Why else would New Yorkers keep moving here? The only problem is that our toxic waste has been replaced by corrupt politicians.

  26. #142964
    On October 10th, 2007 at 7:35 am, Uplander said:

    Tryphorgetin
    Has anyone transcribed this to text? If so where can I find it?

  27. #142971
    On October 10th, 2007 at 7:59 am, 30 pcs of silver said:

    I am going to have to agree with others on their comments about NJ. I’ve had nothing but problems since I moved here (my husband accepted a position with a pharma co).
    We bought a house and moved everything in…the very next day we had a tax assessor knocking at the door…when the doorbell rung, I thought it was someone welcoming us to the neighborhood, you know with cookies or a cake.
    Well, we were being welcomed…the NJ way.
    Few weeks later, we got the tax assessment…they doubled the value of the property…doubled it!!!

  28. #143021
    On October 10th, 2007 at 9:18 am, tomscourt said:

    New Jersey has a long, sordid history of political corruption. Perhaps the most famous corrupt politician is Frank “I am the law” Hague, who was mayor of Jersey City. The most recent list of indicted and/or convicted politicians is too numerous to mention. They are almost entirely democrats. Yet, inexplicably, a recent poll in New Jersey shows that despite the corruption of democrats, voters are not more likely to pull the lever for a republican. Being a republican in New Jersey is akin to being a Red Sox fan at Yankee Stadium, unwanted and unwelcome.

  29. #143049
    On October 10th, 2007 at 9:56 am, 30 pcs of silver said:

    I have a story about voting Republican in NJ as well.

    Long story but the gist of it is that we weren’t able to vote in the primary, which I believe helped to get Menendez in the Senate…

  30. #143050
    On October 10th, 2007 at 9:59 am, cpodug said:

    toxic waste has been replaced by corrupt politicians.

    There’s a difference?

  31. #143051
    On October 10th, 2007 at 10:02 am, jlhudg23 said:

    Given the fact that he was on the verge of resigning in the face of an investigation, I’d bet he’s just trying the ol’ “go into rehab to deflect attention from criminality” ploy so common these days.

  32. #143151
    On October 10th, 2007 at 11:29 am, JammieWearingFool said:

    Virtually every media account still omits Levy’s party affiliation.

    Hmmm. I wonder why?

  33. #143336
    On October 10th, 2007 at 3:40 pm, stacman said:

    I don’t know in what context he declared himself a member of special forces, but the man did two tours in Vietnam and was awarded two bronze stars (which is nothing to sneeze at). I’d sooner back this man (if he wasn’t a slimey liberal) than I would the self-inflicted shrapnel in the ass John Kerry and his purple medals.

    But at the end of the day he’s still a dem, so he should rot forever more…

  34. #143352
    On October 10th, 2007 at 4:02 pm, Dr. Lead Based Paint said:

    DOG!!! It’s ANOTHER phony soldier??!!

  35. #143524
    On October 10th, 2007 at 7:57 pm, BrianNY said:

    Some Levy military info via Wikipedia:

    As early as 1980 Levy began to claim he was a member of U.S. Army Special Forces (”Green Berets”). The claim was also on campaign literature during his 2005 campaign for mayor. After doubts of Levy’s Green Beret service was expressed to The Press of Atlantic City by a Vietnam War veteran in September 2006, the newspaper began investigating Levy’s war records and discovered there was no record he was in the U.S. Special Forces. In November 2006 The Press of Atlantic City planned on publishing its findings; Levy then admitted he was never in the U.S. Special Forces.[4] Upon this information, federal investigators began to examine whether or not Levy properly obtained a Combat Infantryman’s Badge (CIB) that he used to obtain additional veterans’ benefits.[5]

    Has anyone found a good source for this guy’s military history? If he did “two tours” in Vietnam, with “two Bronze Star” citations, why is his Combat Infantryman’s Badge coming under scrutiny?

  36. #143605
    On October 10th, 2007 at 10:32 pm, BrianNY said:

    Oops, I guess I should have read the entire Wikipedia entry on Levy:

    In August 1965 Levy was sent to Wuerzburg, Germany before being assigned to the 1st Aviation Battalion, 1st Infantry Division in Vietnam.

    And,

    In 1970 Levy began his second tour in Vietnam.

    And,

    During his tours during the Vietnam War he was awarded two Bronze Stars.

    But more importantly, the Bronze Star:

    is the fourth-highest combat award of the U.S. Armed Forces and the 9th highest military award (including both combat and non-combat awards) in the order of precedence of U.S. military decorations.

    I’m still interested in what federal investigators have found regarding his claim to a Combat Infantryman’s Badge. I know CIB recipients take their decoration very seriously. A cousin of mine was awarded 2 DSCs, 8 Silver, 4 Bronze and a CIB with a star on top through his service in WWII and Korea. Family story says that he was proudest of his CIB.

    I agree with Stacman. Levy’s bio proves that his service is “nothing to sneeze at.” Appearances seem to show that his padded resume was probably for monetary reasons…which seems to be the Democrat Party’s reason for being in N.J.

  37. #143611
    On October 10th, 2007 at 10:56 pm, swj719AWG said:

    Rehab? WHy bother…

    You can’t fix stupid, you know…

  38. #143612
    On October 10th, 2007 at 11:00 pm, swj719AWG said:

    And that bio of his… Is that the real one, or the one he got elected on?

    Just picking nits.

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