Zambrano sentencing set for Wednesday BY CHRISTINE VARNO Staff Writer LONG BRANCH - Former Long Branch Councilman John R. "Fazz" Zambrano is scheduled to appear in court next week to face sentencing for accepting a cash bribe while serving in office. Zambrano, 45, is expected to appear before Judge William J. Martini in U. S. District Court in Newark Oct. 24 at 11:30 a.m., according to the Court Clerk's Office. Also scheduled for sentencing next week is Zambrano's brother, former West Long Branch Mayor Paul Zambrano, 50, who pleaded guilty to extortion in August 2005 for accepting a total of $15,000 in bribes. His sentencing is scheduled forOct. 23 at 11 a.m. The offense carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He will also be appearing before Martini. John Zambrano resigned from the Long Branch City Council July 20, 2006, after entering a guilty plea before Martini to accepting a cash bribe. Zambrano said he accepted a $1,000 payment through an intermediary in November 2003 at a party in Atlantic City with the understanding that he would use his official position to assist a contractor, who was actually a federal informant, in obtaining city contracts. FBI informant Robert Steffer, the informant in the joint U.S. Attorney/FBI Bid Rig investigation, posed as a businessman with a construction and demolition company seeking to secure Long Branch demolition and site work contracts. The plea agreement was signed by Zambrano in June 2006, according to Mark Mc- Carren, chief of the Public Protection Unit of the U.S. Attorney's office. Zambrano was re-elected to serve his fourth, four-year term as councilman in the May 9, 2006, municipal election and was sworn into office on July 1. McCarren said at the time that the plea agreement was sent to Zambrano May 31, and Zambrano entered the plea agreement sometime in June. He took the oath of office as a councilman in July, and shortly after resigned from the council. The council was then responsible for appointing a person to fill the vacant seat until the upcoming November election. At the time of Zambrano's resignation, some city residents voiced concerns about the time frame of Zambrano entering a plea agreement and his being sworn into office. Had he stepped down prior to the swearing in, the candidate who drew the next highest number of votes in the May election would have won the council seat. Zambrano entered a plea of guilty before being indicted in July 2006 to one count of Hobbs Act Extortion under color of official right for accepting and agreeing to a cash bribe in exchange for agreeing to exercise official action and influence and to aid and assist in corruptly securing future city demolition and site work contracts. According to McCarren, the U.S. Attorney's Office agreed to a sentence of 18 to 24 months for the guilty plea, which carries a statutory maximum prison sentence of 20 years.