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Hey, dead-end listeners. I'm coming to you on February 27, 2025, because there's big news about George Norcross. Remember that racketeering indictment we told you about last June? Well, it is no longer.

Here's the short interview I did last night on WNYC.

It is all things considered on WNYC. I'm Sean Carlson. A judge has dismissed all charges against George Norcross, the South New Jersey political boss, who was accused of running a criminal enterprise.

All the counts against the six defendants were thrown out in a sweeping case that focused on the redevelopment of the Camden Waterfront,

lucrative state tax breaks, and political influence over City Hall.

We're joined now by W.D.1. My's Nancy Salomon to explain all of this to us.

Nancy, we got to say, this is a very complicated case. So can you just give us, like, a quick

101 on what this is all about? Yes, indeed. It's complicated. So the case was brought by

State Attorney General Matt Pladkin. The indictment alleged that George Norcross used his political power at Camden

City Hall to obtain very valuable property that is right across the Delaware River from downtown

Philadelphia. There was alleged extortion of two victims. One was a real estate developer who

said he was forced to give up development

rights there on the waterfront. And then there was the leader of a non-profit in Camden that had

to give up a valuable deal to purchase an office complex also on the waterfront. And then the

Norcross Machine also obtained $1.1 billion

worth of state tax breaks for himself, his business partners, and other favored businesses in his

orbit. But the judge didn't buy it. Yeah, tell us about that. What did the judge say about why he

dismissed the case?

Well, you know, the defense attorneys for Norcross and his co-defendants had argued that there was no extortion and no other crimes committed, that all the behavior and actions taken were just

part of the hard bargaining world of business. Judge Peter Warshaw agreed, basically,

like 100%. He had four findings. He basically said, one, the facts laid out in the indictment

...