Scarpelli's sentencing delayed until Sept. Original sentence date was scheduled for May 29 BY PATRICIA A. MILLER Staff Writer Brick residents and officials who were waiting for former Mayor Joseph C. Scarpelli to be sentenced in federal court next week will have to wait a little longer. Scarpelli's sentencing date was originally scheduled for May 29, more than four months after he pleaded guilty to accepting bribes from an unnamed developer. His new sentencing date is now scheduled for Sept. 7, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the New Jersey U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark. "It's not unusual for sentences to be delayed," Drewniak said. Republican Township Council President Stephen C. Acropolis said he had heard the sentencing had been postponed but was surprised to learn it had been pushed back as far as September. "Obviously it's still an ongoing investigation," Acropolis said. "It's unfortunate. When you don't have a sentence, that means there is more. The town will have to go through some more dark days before we start seeing some light at the end of the tunnel. If he had been sentenced, that process would be winding down." Scarpelli, 67, pleaded guilty on Jan. 8 to one count of accepting and agreeing to accept cash payments in exchange for official action. He admitted he took at least $5,000 in bribes from an unnamed developer between 1998 and late 2003. He also admitted that he received the payments in Brick and in other unnamed locales in Ocean County. Federal officials have not disclosed the developer's identity, but have said the developer's company has done work in Brick and is involved in interstate commerce. Scarpelli resigned Dec. 8 from the position he had held for more than 12 years. He was the only mayor in Brick's history to be elected to four terms. He faces a probably sentencing range of between 24 and 30 months in federal prison, although the charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000, authorities have said. Michael T. Nolan, Scarpelli's attorney, could not be reached for comment by press time. Scarpelli is not the only Brick public official to have his sentencing date postponed. Former Public Works Director John H. (Jack) Nydam's sentencing has been postponed at least five times. The new sentencing date is June 15. Nydam pleaded guilty on April 3, 2006, to official misconduct, theft and witness tampering, three of the 11 charges he originally faced. Each charge carries a potential five-year term. Part of the plea bargain called for his continuing cooperation with the FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office investigations. Federal authorities have characterized Nydam's cooperation as "substantial," Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor William Porter has said.