Justice is served It was judgment week for a number of defendants caught up in the Operation Bid Rig scandal last week, as one by one, a half-dozen disgraced government officials showed up at a federal courthouse to find out how much of their futures would be spent behind bars. The answers in many cases were surprising. Former Monmouth County Superintendent of Bridges Anthony Palughi led off the week, and in a sense set a precedent for those to follow. His eight-month sentence was very light considering the time he faced, but the judge cut him a big break for supplying information that led to the convictions of several others. Some police are fond of saying "the easy way or the hard way" when they're handling a bust, and in these corruption cases, those who made the FBI's work easier usually did get off the easiest. One sentence that seemed to buck that trend was that of Keyport Mayor John Merla, who faced a recommended period of between 24-30 months in prison but only got 22. Following his arrest, Merla defiantly refused to step down from office, vowing that he would be cleared of all the charges against him and that the truth would come out. He even planned to mount a bid for re-election as an independent candidate before having a change of heart and withdrawing on the day of the primary. The only way he could have been less cooperative would be if he took the case to trial. In contrast, former Hazlet Mayor Paul Coughlin got a 24- month sentence in 2006, despite the fact that he resigned quickly and kept his mouth shut publicly until he entered his guilty plea. The job Coughlin was bribed for - the demolition of town hall - was never even delivered, while Merla did indeed see to it that the undercover investigators who paid him off were awarded work in Keyport. Other notable officials sentenced last week include former West Long Branch Mayor Paul Zambrano (one year and one day in prison), his brother, former Long Branch Councilman John "Fazz" Zambrano (four months) and former county Division of Transportation Operations Manager Joseph "Joey Buses" McCurnin (three months), a defendant who had a relatively small role in all of this, but gained an inordinate level of notoriety due to his colorful nickname. We can debate whether or not the sentences these men received were strong enough to act as a deterrent to others contemplating corrupt activities. The most important thing now is that they'll never again be allowed to hold a government office and abuse the public's trust. With justice served, communities like Keyport and West Long Branch can now finally begin moving on from these embarrassing episodes, hopefully wiser, but definitely less trusting of what public officials say and do.