Hudson County kept giving jobs to a contractor who admitted paying bribes — $15 million+ after Guy took office

County Executive Craig Guy says the Hudson County parks kickback scheme happened “before I took office.” The federal charging papers against the contractor who paid the bribes put the end date later: “in or about February 2025,” more than a year into Guy’s term. And county records show his administration kept lining up work for that contractor, Murray Paving and Concrete, until March 2026.

Hudson TV reviewed the federal court filing, the Justice Department’s announcements, and every Hudson County Board of Commissioners regular-meeting agenda from January 2024 through October 2026. From Guy’s first month in office to February 2026, Murray Paving jobs appeared on 28 regular-meeting agendas. That includes a $17,876 job to soundproof the County Executive’s own conference room in February 2025, the same month the federal filing gives as the scheme’s end.

The county says it has since cut Murray off. Here’s what the records show, and what they don’t.

Key facts

• “In or about February 2025” is when the conspiracy ended, according to the federal charge against Murray Paving owner William A. Murray. He pleaded guilty on March 17, 2026.
• “Before I took office” is how Guy described the conduct of the former county officials involved. He was sworn in as county executive in January 2024.
• $15.3 million+ in Murray Paving cooperative-purchase jobs appears on 27 county agendas from Jan. 25, 2024 to Feb. 12, 2026. One more entry, from May 9, 2024, doesn’t add up and isn’t counted (details below).
• $3.6 million of that was listed after February 2025, the scheme’s end date in the federal filing.
• $100,000 was added to Murray’s snow-removal contract on March 12, 2026. That was five days before Murray pleaded guilty.

What the federal filing says

Federal prosecutors charged William A. Murray, owner of Murray Paving and Concrete, LLC, with conspiracy to commit honest services fraud under 18 U.S.C. § 1349. The charge was filed as an Information in U.S. District Court in Newark, United States v. William A. Murray, Crim. No. 26-09 (CCC), on March 17, 2026. Murray pleaded guilty that day before U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The Information says that “from at least in or about 2019 through in or about February 2025,” Murray conspired with two former county parks directors “and others” to defraud Hudson County of their honest services. It says Murray paid more than $1.5 million in bribes and kickbacks. It also says Murray Paving did more than $5 million in county work since about 2018, mostly through cooperative purchasing, and was the cooperative’s “only awarded vendor for repair and maintenance — job order contracting.”

The Justice Department later named the two former directors as Thomas DeLeo and Russell Fallacara. Both have pleaded guilty. In its July 8, 2026 release on Fallacara’s plea, the department described the conspiracy as running “from 2019 through 2024.” The Information doesn’t say what happened between Fallacara’s departure and February 2025, and it doesn’t accuse any official who served under Guy.

Fallacara ran the parks department until about February 2024, according to the Information. NJ.com reported that he submitted his resignation 24 days after Guy took office.

What Guy said

After the guilty pleas were announced, Guy told Hudson County View on March 20, 2026:

“I am disgusted by the actions of these former Hudson County officials that occurred before I took office. Throughout my tenure as Hudson County executive, I have been committed to transparency and ensuring the public’s trust in their government, which included bringing in new Parks Department leadership soon after I entered office. All county contracts and procurement processes and regulations are thoroughly complied with and reviewed by our Law Department.”

Guy’s statement refers to the actions of former officials. The federal filing’s dates reach more than a year into his term, and the county’s own agendas show Murray Paving work continued through that period and after.

What the county put in front of commissioners

Under Guy, Murray Paving jobs went to the Board of Commissioners as “Purchasing Agent’s Award” purchases under the Educational Services Commission of New Jersey cooperative. Most were on the consent agenda, which is approved in a single vote. Examples from the agendas:

• Jan. 25, 2024 (Guy’s first month): $780,240.85, including $225,273.59 for office upgrades in the Brennan Courthouse.
• June 13, 2024: “Restoration of Brennan front entrance,” $1,493,566.49.
• Feb. 13, 2025: “Furnish & Install Sixteen (16) Sound Attenuation Panels County Execs Conference Room,” $17,876. The same line had the Lincoln Park Fountain coating system at $1,599,525.04.
• Nov. 13, 2025: “Brennan Courthouse Pavonia Ave. Service Entrance Restoration,” $365,569.64.
• Nov. 25, 2025: Murray’s snow-removal contract for county parks, crosswalks and sidewalks was extended from Dec. 12, 2025 to Dec. 11, 2027. The agenda notes the county “reserves the right to terminate upon 7 days notice.”
• Feb. 12, 2026: “Pedestrian Bridge Repairs,” $176,275.12. This was the last Murray cooperative job on a regular agenda.
• March 12, 2026: “Request for funds” on the snow contract, raising it from $180,000 to $280,000. Commissioners passed it on the consent agenda, according to the meeting transcript. Murray pleaded guilty five days later.

Separately, the board added $1.3 million and 365 days to Murray’s “On Call Infrastructure Improvements” contract (Res. 608-10-2022) on Nov. 26, 2024. It added another 365-day extension on Sept. 25, 2025. Those amounts aren’t in the $15.3 million total.

About the numbers: These are amounts the county put before commissioners for approval. They are not confirmed payments. Projects can be cancelled, cut or never started, and Hudson TV hasn’t yet seen what the county actually paid Murray. As printed, the agenda lines add up to $17,620,588.34 across 28 meetings. But the May 9, 2024 entry lists Murray at $2,276,055.16, while its three projects total $782,488.67, and so does the agenda’s own section total. Hudson TV left that entry out, which brings the total to $15,344,533.18 across 27 meetings. A few other entries are off by smaller amounts, from $50 to about $20,000.

The agenda totals for 2024–26 alone are several times the “over $5 million” in work that federal prosecutors say Murray Paving performed since about 2018. That gap is one reason Hudson TV has asked for the county’s payment records.

The $206,194 item that disappeared

The agenda for the board’s March 24, 2026 caucus, a week after Murray’s plea, listed $206,194.08 more for Murray Paving: $33,104.56 for a new cover and strapping for a salt supply, and $173,089.52 for a Police Memorial statue at the Public Safety Training Facility at Meadowview. On the March 26 regular-meeting agenda, that purchasing section listed only a $650,000 Musco Corp. ballfield lighting buy. No Murray Paving item has appeared on a regular-meeting agenda since, through the board’s Oct. 8 meeting, and none is listed on the agenda for the Oct. 20 caucus.

The March 24 caucus transcript, posted on the county website, shows why. When commissioners asked about Murray contracts, County Administrator Abe Antun said, “Anything that has not been started, we’re going to be canceling,” and added that the projects would be procured again. Finance Director Fuller (as identified in the transcript) said the Finance Department “has pulled any payments and stopped the processing of any purchase orders or requisitions,” starting March 23. County Counsel Alberico De Pierro said the county had been served with a federal subpoena for documents and was cooperating.

Commissioner Bill O’Dea said commissioners had been told that in “a large number of these instances” the engineer never signed off on completed work, and that a department employee did instead. “How the hell is a person that knows nothing about a construction initial a PO for work that’s done?” he said. Commissioner Caridad Rodriguez said, “Because it comes from Murray, who we know for years? Who cares who they are? We’ve been trusting this. No more.”

In July, county spokesperson Mark Cygan told NJ.com the county had “terminated its contracts with Murray Paving & Concrete and barred the company from future work.” He said the county had reviewed its purchasing procedures and that the County Executive’s Office had given the U.S. Attorney’s Office more than 10,000 documents. Hudson TV didn’t find a board resolution formally terminating Murray’s contracts or barring the company on any 2026 agenda.

Why it matters

County taxpayers pay for these jobs. Cooperative purchasing lets the county skip its own bidding process. The federal case says that one company held the cooperative’s only repair-and-maintenance contract, and that county officials took bribes to steer work to it and to approve inflated invoices. The questions now are how much of the $15 million-plus the county actually paid, for which jobs, who signed off on completed work after the parks directors left, and whether any money can be recovered.

What Hudson TV asked

Hudson TV emailed the County Executive’s Office and Press Secretary Karina Diaz on Oct. 8, asking how Guy squares his “before I took office” statement with the February 2025 end date in the federal filing, when and how Murray Paving’s contracts were ended, how much the county paid Murray after Jan. 1, 2024, whether any payments were made after Murray’s guilty plea, and whether the county will try to recover money. The office did not respond by the 5 p.m. Oct. 9 deadline and had not responded as of publication on Oct. 20.

Hudson TV filed an Open Public Records Act request with the county on Oct. 8 for Murray Paving’s purchase orders, invoices, payments, change orders, contracts and extensions since Jan. 1, 2024, along with any termination or debarment records and Executive Office communications about the company from March and April 2026.

Sources: Information, U.S. v. William A. Murray, Crim. No. 26-09 (CCC), filed March 17, 2026 · U.S. Attorney’s Office, July 8, 2026 · Hudson County View, March 20, 2026 (Guy statement) · NJ.com, July 10, 2026 (county statement) · Hudson County Board of Commissioners agendas and minutes, including the March 24, 2026 caucus transcript.

Hudson TV asks: Now that the contractor has admitted paying bribes, should Hudson County try to claw back money it paid Murray Paving, or is ending the contracts enough?
Share your take in the comments.

Got a tip? Email tips@hudsontv.com or text 862-417-6695.

Featured image: Hudson County Executive Craig Guy, official portrait. Photo: Hudson County (hcnj.us). Graphic by Hudson TV.