The New Jersey Supreme Court held that Jason O’Donnell, the former Bayonne mayoral candidate who accepted $10,000 in a paper bag in exchange for an appointment as the city’s tax counsel, did not need to win election to be subject to the plain words of the state’s bribery statute.

O’Donnell, who ran for Bayonne mayor in 2018, allegedly accepted the cash in a paper Baskin Robbins bag, according to the opinion. The state asserted that the candidate promised the individual who paid him the cash an appointment as tax counsel to the city. The state charged O’Donnell under the bribery statute. However, O’Donnell contended that the statute does not apply to him because it is not applicable to candidates who accept such payments but who do not win election.