Merla said last month that he would resign that post if elected, due to a conflict of interests. “However, if the mayor chooses I can be appointed as the council liaison,” he said.

Merla pleaded guilty in 2007 to laundering $65,000 during the FBI's Operation Bid Rig investigation into dishonest government figures around Monmouth County. He is the younger brother of former ...

Joseph “JoJo” Merla, who served three months in federal prison in 2007, has the inside track at taking an open seat on Keyport’s Borough Council.