MORRISTOWN — Embattled Dover Councilman Sergio Rodriguez lost his bid for re-election last week in the Democratic primary.
On Monday, he mounted a new campaign to fight what he defiantly labeled as “politically motivated” criminal charges.
Rodriguez, 30, was back in state Superior Court for the June 16 hearing. He declined a pretrial intervention deal offered by prosecutors that could have led to clearing his record of the assault and official misconduct charges he has accumulated since taking office in January 2023.
Dover Council Member Sergio Rodriguez
In February, Rodriguez had expressed an interest in the deal. Now, he says he is rejecting he PTI offer due to one provision: He would have to resign from his public office.
“They know I lost my election and my term is up on Dec. 31, when I will have to leave office anyway,” Rodriguez said after the hearing at the Morris County Courthouse. “But they just won’t let up on the resignation.”
“I’m not going to resign my position because I absolutely did nothing wrong,” he said.
Rodriguez did not explain his allegations of political motivation further. Asked to respond, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office issued a statement saying it “tries cases in court, not in the media.”
Health of alleged victim at issue
Rodriguez did see the most serious charge, a count of aggravated assault, dismissed on Monday. Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Joseph Napurano told Judge Ralph Amirata said that was because “the victim in this matter is in very poor health, and that poor health is also affecting the witness’s ability to recall.”
Napurano did not specify the nature of the man’s condition or if it was affected by the alleged assault.
The aggravated assault charge stemmed from a Sept. 25 incident. A Dover police report states that the victim was knocked unconscious after Rodriguez shoved him to the ground, causing him to hit his head on a concrete wall.
Rodriguez had previously been arrested for simple assault in February 2024. Both incidents allegedly took place in downtown Dover during confrontations with homeless men who the Ward 2 Democrat said were drinking alcohol and then urinating and defecating in public.
In January, he was hit with a third count of official misconduct after prosecutors say he attempted to use his political position to “intimidate a liquor store owner and employee into ceasing the sales of alcohol to specific individuals.”
Dover Councilman Sergio Rodriguez, at right facing Judge Ralph Amirata in Morris County Superior Court in Morristown. To his left are his defense attorney, Edward Bilinkas, and Supervising Assistant Prosecutor
All three cases were eventually moved from municipal court to state Superior Court. On Monday, along with dismissing the aggravated assault charge, the simple assault case was sent back to local court.
That leaves only the misconduct charge in state court, where Rodriguez and prosecutors now appear at an impasse.
Open to a deal, then against it
Rodriguez agreed in a February court hearing to apply to the pretrial intervention program. But he has changed his tune since changing lawyers. Rodriguez is now represented by Edward Bilinkas of Randolph, who the councilman hired after the town council approved a taxpayer-funded, $35,000 legal defense fund at the urging of Mayor James Dodd.
After Monday’s hearing, Bilinkas said prosecutors have until July 14 to present their case to a grand jury, or Amirata will dismiss the misconduct charge as well.
“From Day One, we’ve believed that he has done nothing wrong and that this whole situation is politically motivated,” Bilinkas said. “Therefore, we’ve rejected their deal, and we look forward to addressing these issues and bringing the truth to light.”
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Rodriguez questioned the revelation of the victim’s lack of recall coming only after the primary election, where the charges he faced appeared to be a key issue in the primary.
“Can’t recall now?” Rodriguez said. “Come on. That’s ridiculous.”
Bilinkas said his defense will include videos already shared with the prosecutor that show a man buying large quantities of beer at a local liquor shop, then giving it to men who allegedly had already been cut off by the store for being intoxicated.
He expressed confidence in his case but said his client has already suffered harm.
“They’ve ruined his [political] career,” Bilinkas said.
Rodriguez lost in the June 10 primary, 214 votes to 112, to former Dover councilwoman Judith Rugg, according to preliminary results from the Morris County Clerk’s Office.
This article originally appeared on Morristown Daily Record: Dover Councilman Sergio Rodriguez refuses deal on misconduct charge