Make ex-Hazlet mayor pay - literally

When the new Hazlet municipal building is completed later this summer, it isn't likely to be named after former Mayor Paul Coughlin.
Coughlin pleaded guilty Tuesday to accepting a $3,000 bribe in exchange for helping someone he believed to be corrupt get the contract for demolishing the old town hall. The contractor was actually an undercover FBI agent. According to court papers, Coughlin sought to prevent the work from being competitively bid by declaring the work an emergency. The indictment says he also discussed other options for ensuring the contract went to his contractor of choice, including rigging the bid specifications and giving inside information about the competing bids to the contractor.
The prosecution has agreed to recommend Coughlin serve between 21 and 27 months in prison. He deserves the jail time, but he also should be heavily fined. If money is what motivated Coughlin to do the crime, it's only fitting that it play a prominent role in his punishment.