By: Richard L. Smith
Former Jersey City Board of Education President Sudhan Thomas has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery following a state corruption investigation, Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin announced.
Thomas, 50, entered the plea on September 5, 2025, before Superior Court Judge Peter J. Tober in Somerset County.
Prosecutors said Thomas admitted to accepting $35,000 in cash bribes from a tax attorney in 2019 while seeking reelection to the school board and a City Council seat.
In exchange, he agreed to steer government contracts to the attorney’s law firm. Law enforcement intervened immediately after he collected the second cash payment of $25,000.
Under a plea agreement, the state will recommend a five-year prison sentence.
Thomas must also forfeit $10,000 in illicit funds, pay a $30,000 public corruption penalty, permanently give up public employment, and is barred from doing business with the state for five years.
“This case shows our commitment to holding public officials accountable when they betray the public trust,” Attorney General Platkin said in announcing the plea.
Thomas was among several defendants charged in the same corruption probe. Former Mount Arlington Councilman John S. Windish pleaded guilty earlier this year and forfeited $7,000. 
Former Morris County Freeholder candidate Mary Dougherty previously admitted to accepting $10,000 and was sentenced to probation in 2021. Cases against former Assemblyman Jason O’Donnell of Bayonne and former Morris County Freeholder John Cesaro remain pending.
Sentencing for Thomas is scheduled for October 17, 2025.