Gopal’s political mentor, Joe Vas, gets out of prison today
Vin Gopal and Joe Vas
Joe Vas, the former Perth Amboy Mayor and Assemblyman who went to prison for campaign finance fraud and money laundering during his 2006 campaign for Congress, which was managed by Vin Gopal, will be released from prison today, according to a report in MyCentralJersey.
Vas was convicted on both federal and state charges, with his sentences to run concurrently. He finished serving his 6 1/2 year federal prison sentence in February when he was transferred to the custody of the New Jersey prison system. His release today is about 3 weeks earlier than the planned June 2 release date.
Gopal’s relationship with Vas became was an issue in the 2011 11th District Assembly race when young Vin, now 32, unsuccessfully challenged then Assemblywomen Mary Pat Angelini and Caroline Casagrande.
click for larger view
The Angelini/Casagrande campaign sent the above campaign mailer to voters, prompting Gopal to cry foul and claim that, although he was the campaign manager of the Vas campaign, he was not responsible for fundraising or accounting. The Asbury Park Press, columnist Bob Ingle and the Star Ledger came to Gopal’s defense, calling the mailer misleading and indecent. Gopal claimed he was just a 20 year old kid who managed the campaign for college credits.
Gopal, who has failed in all of his previous attempts at elected office and never managed to win a race while he was Monmouth County Democrat Chairman, is running for Senate in the 11th District this year against Republican Senator Jennifer Beck.
More from my site
40,003 reasons Vin Gopal beat Jennifer Beck
Gopal: “I was not a good student”
Beck Is Enthusiastic About Gopal’s Challenge
Former Dem Assemblyman takes Gopal to task for false and misleading campaign mail
Dems Pick Up Key Seats in Legislature, GOP Takes Several Tight Races
O’Scanlon: Gopal lacks credibility on property taxes
Property Tax Appeal Attorney Responds to Gopal’s Ignorance
Dems step up their hateful rhetoric
Gopal Blames Beck For Air Pollution, Says He Will Fix It
Long Branch Official: Mr. Gopal is not listed as a qualified, trained firefighter in the City of Long Branch
Political Mentor??? LOL. Hardly. Out of fairness to Mr. Gopal, when Politifact gave that ad a “Pants On Fire” rating it noted that:
“Gopal worked four months on Vas’ unsuccessful congressional campaign. Gopal dealt with scheduling, phone banks, volunteers and occasional media queries. Given that law enforcement and a public database all confirm that Gopal had no connection of any kind to the Vas criminal case, the implications made by the ad aren’t just ridiculous, they’re also outrageous”.
http://www.politifact.com/new-jersey/statements/2011/nov/04/new-jersey-republican-state-committee/vin-gopal-targeted-gop-attack-ad-new-jersey-assemb/
Politifact has in fact, been proven wrong, and/or biased before. (Not that anyone pays attention anymore, anyway.) They’re hardly the “prima supreme” fact checking source you make them out to be, lol.
Oh the humanity! Poor Goofy Gopal, lol.