School officials get prison term

CAMDEN, N.J. (AP) - August 8, 2008 A federal judge in Camden on Friday sentenced James A. Pressley, the former board president, to 24 months in prison. Former board member Rafael Valez is getting 37 months.

The two will also have to pay thousands of dollars in fines, and will be under supervised release after their prison terms.

Both Pressley and Valez have admitted to accepting thousands of dollars in bribes for helping to obtain contracts for an insurance brokerage company and a roofing business.

As part of their sentence, Pressley will forfeit $40,800 in bribe money he received and Valez will give up $4,000.

Their arrests in 2007 were part of public corruption investigation that also resulted in the arrest of nine other public officials.

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