New York

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

 

Bonehead bouncer was leaked answers to Waterfront Commission detective test

A bonehead bouncer twice failed the test to become a Waterfront Commission detective, then passed with a record-high mark after an agency bigwig leaked him the answers, authorities said Wednesday.

James Sutera was charged by Manhattan prosecutors with perjury for lying to anti-corruption investigators about how a two-time flunky ended up at the head of the class.

The New Jersey man got abysmal scores - in the 50s - before improbably registering a 98, the highest mark ever on the written exam, authorities said.

"Shows you he can at least read, anyway - read the answers," said Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau.

Morgenthau said Sutera was hired in 2007 for the $30,000-a-year job at the order of Michael Madonna, then the New Jersey commissioner of the notorious panel.

After Sutera failed the detectives test a second time, Madonna leaked him the answers, Morgenthau said. "This guy was totally unqualified to be a police detective," Morgenthau said.

The detective, who is suspended, didn't help matters by bragging to a co-worker that he had the answers to the exam, authorities said.

When he allegedly brought the answers to work, someone ratted him out to the state inspector general.

Sutera, 28, previously worked as an assistant wrestling coach, a public works laborer and a camp counselor. He faces up to seven years in prison if convicted of felony perjury charges.

Madonna - who was canned in August by New Jersey Gov. Jon Corzine after a report revealed rampant corruption at the agency - has not been charged.