NJ Pol's Corruption Trial Won't Feature Informant: Feds

The fourth trial stemming from last year's major corruption bust in New Jersey apparently will go ahead without the government's star witness.

In a court filing, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Newark says it doesn't plan to call informant Solomon Dwek to testify in the trial of former state Assemblyman L. Harvey Smith.

Jury selection in Smith's extortion trial is scheduled to begin Monday.

Dwek secretly taped hundreds of hours of meetings with public officials and prominent members of Orthodox enclaves in Brooklyn and New Jersey for more than two years. Last year, more than 40 people were arrested and charged with extortion, bribery and money laundering.

Dwek has testified in three trials this year, resulting in three convictions and one acquittal.