The former director of the Newark Watershed Conservation and Development Corp., pleaded guilty yesterday to soliciting nearly $1 million in bribes from businesses in return for overinflated and no-work contracts, NJ.com reported yesterday. Linda Watkins-Brashear, who presided over the non-profit agency as it slid into bankruptcy and dissolution amid charges of corruption and mismanagement, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and filing a false income tax return in Newark federal court before U.S. District Judge Jose Linares. Watkins-Brashear, who led the agency that kept the tap water flowing for half a million northern New Jersey water customers from 2007-2013, faces up to 23 years in jail and $350,000 in fines in pleading guilty. She also must forfeit the $999,000 that was kicked back to her.
