Operation Bid Rig star informant gets 8 mos. Prosecutor tells judge Palughi could be called on to testify again BY KAREN E. BOWES Staff Writer Anthony Palughi NEWARK - As far as undercover FBI cooperating witnesses go, he was one of the best. So said the judge during the Oct. 23 sentencing of Anthony Palughi, the 71-year-old felon who once served as Monmouth County's superintendent of bridges. U.S. District Court Judge William Martini sentenced Palughi to eight months in federal prison for accepting $12,500 in corrupt payments and for his role in delivering bribes to various other county officials. One such county official was Raymond O'Grady, the former Middletown Township Committee member who was convicted in 2006 on charges of political corruption and sentenced to 43 months behind bars. O'Grady served as the director of the county's motor pool at the time he accepted the cash bribes. Palughi testified for several days during O'Grady's 2006 trial, helping to land the former committeeman and county employee in jail. After one day on the witness stand, Palughi went home and attempted to take his own life by ingesting dozens of blood pressure pills. After a few days' rest, Palughi was back on the witness stand to finish his testimony. "There's no excuse for what I done," Palughi told the court. He then apologized to residents "for the shadow I cast on Monmouth County as a place to live, work and bring up a family. Monmouth County is still a great place to bring up a family." In the courtroom at the time of the sentencing was a woman identified by an FBI source as O'Grady's wife. Mrs. O'Grady made several grunting sounds throughout the procedure and attempted to take a photo of Palughi with her camera phone, according to the FBI source. Last week, the judge called Palughi's 5K letter - the document the FBI provides to the judge in matters of cooperating witnesses - the best he has ever seen. "I think this experience has truly chastened him," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark McCarren. McCarren added that Palughi was willing to cooperate from the very beginning. "Mr. Palughi has always expressed a willingness to cooperate," McCarren told the judge. "It's still possible he may be called upon to testify."