Rocco Neri
Member of the New Jersey General Assembly from the 28th Legislative District
In office
January 8, 1974 – January 13, 1976
Serving with Philip Keegan
Preceded byDistrict created
Succeeded byPatrick Scanlon and Peter Shapiro
Personal details
Born(1919-09-26)September 26, 1919
Newark, New Jersey
DiedOctober 6, 2011(2011-10-06) (aged 92)
Political partyDemocratic

Rocco Neri (September 26, 1919 – October 6, 2011) was an American Democratic Party politician who represented the 28th Legislative District in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1974 to 1976.

Born in Newark, Neri attended West Side High School. He served in the New Jersey National Guard for nine years following his five years of service during World War II in the United States Army.[1]

A resident of Irvington, Neri was the Essex County Undersheriff from 1972 to 1980, serving under Sheriff John F. Cryan, and owned Stuyvesant Auto Body for three decades. He was elected to the State Assembly in 1973, representing the 28th district that included Irvington, South Orange and parts of Newark.[2] He and running mate Philip Keegan won the Democratic primary without opposition[3] and defeated Republicans Joseph T. DeVizio and Charles C. Deubal Jr. by a margin of more than 2–1 in the general election.[4] Neri sought re-election to a second term in 1975 together with Patrick Scanlon, but was unsuccessful. Scanlon won, but despite the support of the powerful Essex County Democratic Committee, Neri lost the Democratic primary by 183 votes to 23-year-old Peter Shapiro, who mounted a grass roots campaign that included personal visits from his Harvard classmate, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.[5][6]

In August 1979, Neri was indicted together with Sheriff John F. Cryan as part of an alleged conspiracy in which employees in the sheriff's department were given raises and other benefits in exchange for bribes. Neri and his co-defendants faced up to 40 years in jail.[7] Due to defects in the manner in which the charges had been drawn, the case against all four was dismissed in May 1980.[8]

A resident of Toms River, New Jersey since 1985, Neri died in Lakewood Township on October 6, 1991.[9]

References

  1. ↑ Manual of the Legislature of New Jersey, 1975, p. 245. E.J. Mullin, 1975. Accessed January 20, 2020. "Rocco Neri (Dem., Irvington) Assemblyman Neri was born in Newark Sept. 26, 1918. He attended West Side High School, Newark, and served in the Army for five years during the World War II period. He served another nine years in the New Jersey National Guard."
  2. ↑ New Jersey Legislative Districts 1974-, Legislative Services Agency via New Jersey State Library. Accessed January 20, 2020.
  3. ↑ Results of the Primary Election Held June 5, 1973, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed January 20, 2020.
  4. ↑ Results of the General Election Held November 6, 1973, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed January 20, 2020.
  5. ↑ Results of the Primary Election Held June 3, 1975, New Jersey Department of State. Accessed January 20, 2020.
  6. ↑ Prial, Frank J. "How a Youth of 23 Beat the Machine", The New York Times, June 9, 1975. Accessed January 20, 2020. "There are two Assembly seats for the 28th District, and the county organization had offered two candidates, UnderSheriff Patrick J. Scanlon and Assemblyman Rocco Neri, a one‐term incumbent. After last Tuesday's primary, Mr. Scanlon had 4,193 votes, Mr. Shapiro 4,155 and Mr. Neri 3,974. Thus, Mr. Scanlon and Mr. Shapiro will run against the Republican Candidates in November in a contest that few observers expect them to lose."
  7. ↑ Narvaez, Alfonso A. "Essex Sheriff and 2 Aides Indicted With a Former Democratic Chief", The New York Times, August 24, 1979. Accessed January 20, 2020. "The five‐count indictment charged that, from 1970 to the present, Sheriff John F. Cryan, his two assistants and Harry Lerner, the former Democratic chairman, conspired to operate the sheriff's office by extorting and receiving bribes in excess of $100,000 from department employees in return for salary increases, promotions, preferred job assignments and other job‐related benefits.... Also named in the indictment were William J. Leonardis, 59, of Newark, chief inspector of the Sheriff's office since 1972, and Rocco Neri, 60, of Irvington, undersheriff since 1975.... If convicted, defendants could receive up to 40 years in jail and a $50,000 fine on the conspiracy and racketeering counts."
  8. ↑ McFadden, Robert D. "Case Against the Ex-Sheriff Of Essex and 3 Is Dismissed; Accused in Kickback", The New York Times, May 23, 1980. Accessed January 20, 2020. "Racketeering and conspiracy charges against the former Essex County Sheriff, two high-ranking assistants and the county's former Democratic chairman were dismissed by a Federal judge in Newark yesterday on the ground that the allegations had been drawn up defectively."
  9. ↑ "Obituary: Rocco Neri", Asbury Park Press, October 8, 2011. Accessed January 20, 2020. "Born in Newark, he resided in Irvington from 1951 -1985 when he moved to Toms River."
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