Real-estate mogul Charles Kushner, New Jersey Gov. Jim McGreevey’s top moneyman, yesterday pleaded guilty to lying about political contributions and tampering with a witness – his own brother-in-law – by luring him to a sex romp with a hooker.
In a plea bargain that helped Kushner avoid a sordid federal trial and up to 10 years behind bars, the 50-year-old Livingston, N.J., wheeler-dealer admitted to:
* Retaliating against his brother-in-law William Schulder by setting him up with a call girl and having a tape of the tryst sent to his sister, Esther.
His intent was to intimidate the two, who had been cooperating with a federal grand jury probe into Kushner’s tax fraud and campaign violations.
* Lying to the Federal Election Commission about more than $385,000 in federal campaign donations.
* Evading hundreds of thousands of dollars in federal income taxes between 1999 and 2001 by disguising charitable donations as office expenditures.
Kushner is not required to cooperate with investigators. He faces 1 ? to 2 years in jail and a maximum fine of $600,000 at his sentencing on Nov. 29.
His lawyer, Benjamin Brafman, said Kushner planned to step down today as chairman of his $1 billion real estate firm.