NJ- Attorneys for former Newark Mayor Sharpe James have accused federal prosecutors of trying to smear him in advance of his corruption trial by alleging that James billed the city for porn flicks and body lotions.

In a Nov. 28 letter to U.S. District Judge William J. Martini, one of the former mayor’s lawyers, Alan Zegas, called “highly prejudicial and grossly inflammatory” government allegations that James rented porn movies during a trip to Miami.

Zegas’ attack came in response to a Nov. 17 government proffer of evidence that prosecutors may seek to introduce at trial. The proffer letter was not made public.

“The government’s papers continue what has been an ongoing campaign to maliciously smear the good name of defendant in a way that will bear directly upon his ability to receive a trial by a fair and impartial jury,” Zegas wrote.

James, a state senator, is charged with using city credit cards to pay for more than $58,000 in personal expenses, including lavish vacations, and steering cut-rate land deals to one of his travel companions, co-defendant Tamika Riley. They face a Feb. 4 trial on conspiracy, mail- and wire-fraud charges.

“Perhaps the most outrageous aspect of the government’s papers is its application to adduce evidence that the defendant had rented pornographic movies and body lotions during a trip to Miami, Florida, and sought reimbursement from the city of Newark for the costs of trip, including the hotel room, lotions and movies,” Zegas wrote.

Other than identifying a list of available titles, the company that supplied adult movies to hotel guests was unable to provide any information about its services, which it discontinued more than a year ago, Zegas said.

“There is not one grain of proof that any of the 17 movies identified were in fact rented by defendant, or viewed by him,” Zegas said.

Government allegations that James also had a “no-show” staffer on his Senate payroll are likewise completely unfounded and “intended solely to infuse this case with additional inflammatory innuendo,” Zegas said.

Other allegations centered on land deals and the mayor’s use of municipal employees in hosting a City Hall meeting for his yacht club.

During his 20-year tenure as mayor, James hosted many “wealthy and celebrated personalities” in the hope of bringing status and investment to the state’s largest city, Zegas said.

Hosting members of his yacht club “was not a crime” but a positive move to induce influential people to use their resources to aid the city, he added.

“What the government is seeking to do is wrong, flagrantly so, and it should be seen for what it is – a transparent attempt to use malicious character assassination as a substitute for a trial,” he argued.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith H. Germano, in a reply letter to the judge last week, said the government was merely complying with his directive to make certain evidence available to the defendants well ahead of the trial.

“It provides defendants with information and insight … regarding certain information that the government possesses,” she said.