Remembered for his refusal to go along with what he felt was a flawed corruption investigation, former U.S. Attorney Robert Del Tufo died last Wednesday at the age of 82.
PRINCETON -- A memorial service will be held next week for former U.S. Attorney and state Attorney General Robert J. Del Tufo, whose biggest case might have been the one he refused to prosecute.
Del Tufo -- who as the state's top federal lawman believed that the infamous Abscam political corruption sting was legally flawed because of abuses by the informant at the center of the FBI operation -- died last week in Princeton. He was 82.
A one-time candidate for governor, Del Tufo's career spanned from his tenure as an assistant county prosecutor to the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority, the U.S. Attorney's office, the State Commission of Investigation and later New Jersey's Attorney General.
"No one has accomplished so much for the criminal justice system," said former New Jersey Chief Justice James Zazzali who also served as a state attorney general. "It is a record never equaled and unlikely to be surpassed."
Born in Newark, Del Tufo graduated from Princeton University and received his law degree from Yale University. He began his public career as an assistant prosecutor in Morris County, then a sleepy courthouse with little crime.
"The prosecutor's office, when I started, was really part time. There was like a week of grand jury, or two weeks, and then four weeks where nothing was happening and then a trial session of a week or two," he recalled in a 2008 interview with The Eagleton Institute of Politics at Rutgers University. "As I stayed there, it changed. Morris County started to develop and pretty soon, there were grand juries all the time."
As U.S. Attorney, Del Tufo oversaw organized-crime prosecutions against some of the state's top organized crime figures, including Tino Fiumara and Anthony (Tony Pro) Provenzano. But it was the Abscam case that dogged him for decades afterward.
Fictionalized in the movie "American Hustle," Abscam was a sting operation in the late 1970s and early 1980s that led to corruption charges against seven members of Congress, including a veteran U.S. Senator from New Jersey, who was caught on video tape taking bribes from phony, oil-rich Arab sheiks with suitcases full of cash bribes.
Then the U.S. Attorney in New Jersey, Del Tufo was briefed early on about the case, which had originated in Long Island.
"It sounded like they were making great cases," remembered Del Tufo in a 2013 interview. But after assigning a number of deputies to the case, he said he began having serious doubts.
"We weren't getting information. And there were a lot of things way out of line with Justice Department guidelines," he recalled, noting that FBI memos routinely filed in such cases did not exist and that the informant at the center of it all, Mel Weinberg, was getting a bounty for each case he made.
"Undercover operations are a necessity, but you have to monitor them," said Del Tufo, who had no regrets about his decision. "You don't just turn someone like Weinberg loose."
Pressured to convene a grand jury, he refused and the cases were ultimately handled out of Brooklyn and Philadelphia, where all of those charged were later convicted.
Robert J. Del TufoAfter leaving the federal prosecutor's office, Del Tufo was named the state's attorney general by Gov. James Florio. After returning to private practice, he served as chairman of the troubled University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.
"He really loved New Jersey," said Del Tufo's wife, Katherine.
As much a fan of the ballet as the Mets and Giants, Del Tufo could be as goofy as he was serious, she said. She remembered him leaving the house one day to head to the mall, only to come back with a photo of himself taken with the Easter Bunny. Her first date with her future husband began with his spilling of wine over her in the first five minutes.
"The quality of his distress showed me exactly the kind of person he was," she said, marrying him not long afterward.
In addition to his wife, Del Tufo is survived by his daughters, Ann Jackopin and Barbara Del Tufo; his sons, Robert and David; his stepdaughters, Caitlin Hughes and Johanna Hunsbedt; and 10 grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held on March 16 at 3pm at Richardson Auditorium at Princeton University. In lieu of flowers, the family requested contributions to the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra in New York City.
Ted Sherman may be reached at tsherman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TedShermanSL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.