Anthony Salters, the powerful and well-connected chair of the Democratic Party in Hillside, New Jersey, pleaded guilty in January to federal tax fraud. Three months later, Hillside’s school district hired him for a newly created, $80,000 job teaching homebound students.

He was sentenced in August to six months in prison, federal records show. But that did not stop the school district from giving Salters, 62, a second job: club adviser at a middle school.

There is no possibility that the district was unaware Salters had admitted to willfully failing to file taxes; his criminal defense lawyer, Raymond Hamlin, is also the school board’s lawyer.

Even in a state known for political patronage and corruption, the post-plea appointments to two taxpayer-funded jobs — and Salter’s continuing role as Hillside’s Democratic leader despite being in prison — are striking.

— The New York Times