BERGAN, NJ—A New Jersey sheriff who was caught on tape making racist remarks agauinst several people, including blacks and state Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal, has resigned, according to news reports.
Bergen County Sheriff Michael Saudino resigned Friday afternoon, reported Northjersey.com. This is the most populous county in NJ.
“With the resignation of Sheriff Saudino, we can now begin the process of restoring faith in the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office after so much of it was so quickly eroded,” NorthJersey.com reported New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy as saying. “And, we can begin the process of ensuring that the bigoted beliefs displayed by the former Sheriff are not given shelter in any corner of the Bergen County Sheriff’s Office – now or in the future,” according to NorthJersey.com.
New York Times, said that Saudino, a Democrat who was in his third term, had initially issued an apology Thursday evening, but declined to step down even after numerous public officials — including Gov. Murphy, Representative Josh Gottheimer, whose district includes a large part of Bergen County, and Mr.Grewal, the state attorney general — called for his swift resignation.
“But on Friday afternoon, facing mounting pressure, Mr. Saudino and his four deputies submitted their resignations, effective immediately,” New York Times said.
Governor Murphy announced his intention to nominate Gurbir S. Grewal to serve as New Jersey’s 61st Attorney General on December 12, 2017. He was confirmed by the New Jersey Senate and assumed the office on January 16, 2018.
Since assuming office, Attorney General Grewal has focused his attention on protecting the interests of New Jersey residents by expanding affirmative litigation, strengthening police-community relations, reducing violent crime and fighting the opioid epidemic, according to Mr. Grewal’s official bio.
Before becoming New Jersey Attorney General, Mr. Grewal served as Bergen County Prosecutor, the chief law enforcement officer of the most populous county in New Jersey and home to nearly 1 million residents living in 70 municipalities. As Bergen County Prosecutor, Grewal supervised a staff of 265 personnel and had supervisory authority over approximately 2,700 sworn law enforcement officers across 74 law enforcement agencies. Among other accomplishments during his tenure, he developed and implemented several creative approaches designed to tackle the heroin and opioid crisis, including “Operation Helping Hand,” a program that offers low-level drug offenders treatment options upon arrest. He also established a Community Affairs Unit, which is dedicated to assisting local departments improve police/community relations.
From 2010 to 2016, Grewal worked as an Assistant United States Attorney (“AUSA”) in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, where he served as Chief of the Economic Crimes Unit from 2014 to 2016 and oversaw the investigation and prosecution of all major white collar and cybercrimes in the District of New Jersey. He was the lead prosecutor in United States v. Drinkman, et al., the largest known data breach prosecution in which the conspirators participated in a worldwide scheme that targeted major corporate networks and stole more than 160 million credit card numbers, causing hundreds of millions of dollars in losses. He was also the lead prosecutor in United States v. Weinstein, et al., a $200 million Ponzi scheme in which the lead defendant was sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment.
Before becoming a federal prosecutor in New Jersey, Grewal also served as an AUSA in the Criminal Division of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York from 2004 to 2007, where he was ultimately assigned to the Business and Securities Fraud Unit. As an AUSA in the Eastern District of New York, he investigated and prosecuted a wide range of narcotics offenses, white collar crimes, and terrorism cases. His significant matters included the successful prosecution of 12 men charged with providing material support to the Tamil Tigers terrorist organization.
In addition to his work as a federal prosecutor, Grewal has also worked in private practice, including at Howrey LLP (from 1999 to 2004 in Washington, D.C., and from 2008 to 2010 in New York, NY). While at Howrey LLP, he counseled clients on a range of matters including securities, trademark, antitrust and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act issues; represented individuals and companies in government investigations and criminal proceedings; conducted internal investigations for public corporations; and conducted civil trials.
Attorney General Grewal graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service in 1995. He obtained his law degree from the College of William & Mary, Marshall-Wythe School of Law in 1999.
