Samuel Rivera

Rivera began his career by joining the Passaic Police Department in 1968. In 1970, Rivera was brought up on police brutality charges. He avoided trial by resigning and returning to Puerto Rico, where he became a police officer as well with the Puerto Rico Police Department. slashing himself to simulate having been attacked in order to protect his partner, who killed a narcotics suspect. Rivera returned to Passaic in 1981 and became a private investigator. ==Political career==

Rivera ran for Passaic City Council in 1993 and 1995, losing both times. and National Hispanic Leadership Council. During the course of his tenure as mayor, Rivera had the City Council nearly triple his salary from $40,000 to $117,000. ==Indictment and felony conviction==

On September 6, 2007, the FBI arrested 11 public officials and one civilian after a year-and-a-half long corruption investigation yielded grand jury indictments, against Rivera and other elected officials, including Assembly members Mims Hackett and Alfred E. Steele. After appearing in front of a magistrate in Trenton and posting bail, Rivera resumed his duties the following day, Friday, September 7. State law permits elected officials to retain their offices even after they are convicted and sentenced; they can only be removed if they are formally impeached. Rivera had stated that he did not intend to resign. In 2008, Rivera was sentenced to 21 months in prison. ==Personal==

Rivera was born on a tobacco farm into a family of 14 children, where he lived until he moved to Passaic in 1963. Shortly thereafter, at age 17, he dropped out of 11th grade and married for the first time. Rivera suffered five strokes and married four times. ==Death==

He died on May 1, 2020 at a nursing home in Pennsylvania the age of 73. ==Sources==