Michael J. Matthews

Michael J. Matthews (January 7, 1934 – January 2, 2014) was Mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey from 1982 to 1984. He was mayor for 21 months before he was recalled and sent to prison for extortion while serving as mayor.

Matthews was born on January 7, 1934, in Upland, Pennsylvania and graduated from Atlantic City High School. He received a degree in business administration from American University in 1966.

He was elected to the Linwood, New Jersey City Council in 1969 and served as Atlantic County Freeholder from 1972 to 1974. He represented the 2nd legislative district in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1978 to 1984.

Matthews, whose mother was Italian, had the support of the city's white ethnic communities. primarily the Jewish, Irish and Italian voters. Matthews, who beat James Ursy, a former school administrator spent a fortune to get elected and then ran up enormous legal bills in a court battle over a recount. In the early 1980s, Leonetti visited Sea Tex Associates several times a week to see Shapiro, including the periods when Matthews was campaigning for mayor and while he was mayor. Shapiro often talked to Leonetti about Matthews’ campaign. Shapiro told Leonetti about the campaign expenses that he was paying for, such as advertising, signs, handouts, bands, as well as personal and entertainment costs for Matthews. Shapiro complained more than once about how much money it was costing him and that Matthews was wasting money on personal expenses. Matthews was elected mayor of Atlantic City a couple of months before Scarfo went to federal prison in August 1982 on his firearms conviction. Shortly after Matthews was elected, Shapiro told Leonetti that he had funneled about $150,000 into Matthews’ campaign. Nicky Scarfo and Phil Leonetti had funneled money into Matthews' campaign to get zoning and planning approvals, variances and contracts for Scarfo, Inc. cement contracting company that was run by Phil Leonetti. After moving into Atlantic City, he was elected to the City Commission in 1980, serving as director of Revenue and Finance.

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