Crime & Safety
Ex-Essex Prosecutor Disbarred for Jailhouse Plot
Clifford Minor, 68, served two years in jail for persuading a man to wrongly admit to gun charges.
The state supreme court Monday disbarred a former Essex County prosecutor, Newark mayoral candidate and judge for his part in a 2011 plot that accused him of persuading an innocent man to plead guilty to gun charges in exchange for cash.
Clifford Minor, 68, was sentenced to two years in prison in 2011 and released in August of last year. He was jailed and, this week, disbarred after the FBI uncovered his actions during an investigation into a high-profile defense attorney who was later convicted of arranging the murder of a federal informant, nj.com reported.
The former Essex County prosecutor admitted to persuading Jahil Muhammad, 32, to take gun charges in place of Abdul Williams, 33, of East Orange, who had a lengthy criminal record and likely would have faced a stiff prison sentence.
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Minor was the Essex County prosecutor in the mid-90s, Newark's chief municipal judge, a former police officer, and a defense attorney. He unsuccessfully ran against Cory Booker for Newark mayor in 2010, according to nj.com.
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