Atlantic City mayor and wife indicted

The mayor of Atlantic City, Marty Small Sr., 50, has been indicted by a grand jury in New Jersey. After it was alleged that the mayor asked his daughter to "twist up" her prior abuse claims to the police, he was charged with witness tampering.

La'Quetta Small, the superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools and the wife of Mayor Small, was also charged. The couple was charged with putting their teenage daughter's safety in jeopardy. In addition, the mayor was charged with aggravated assault and terrorist threats.

In September, prosecutors claimed that Small asked his daughter to retract her earlier allegations of abuse against him, "specifically by asking her to state that she tripped and fell in her room when her head was injured." This was while those charges were still pending.

According to authorities, Small made the request in response to claims that he repeatedly whacked his daughter in the head with a broom in January, causing her to lose consciousness.

After Frank Gilliam resigned and entered a guilty plea to wire fraud, Small was named mayor in 2019. In 2021, Small was elected to a four-year term.

The former Trump Plaza casino's removal from the Atlantic City skyline was long spearheaded by the mayor. In 2021, an enthusiastic audience watched as Donald Trump's unsuccessful Atlantic City casino was dismantled. Small told the Associated Press: "I got chills." Small had previously called the abandoned building an eyesore. “This is a momentous occasion. It was thrilling.”

The remaining rubble pile, according to Small, was around eight stories high. Environmentalists who wanted to construct an artificial fishing reef off the shore of Atlantic City eventually used some of it.

It was the last Atlantic City casino to be named after Trump. The former Trump Marina is now known as the Golden Nugget Atlantic City, while the former Trump Taj Mahal is currently the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.

In a statement, Small criticized the indictment and said any more remarks will be handled by his lawyer, Edwin Jacobs.

Prosecutors claim that Small and his wife had abused their daughter physically and mentally on other occasions in addition to the broom incident.

The mayor allegedly threatened to hurt his daughter during a fight by throwing her to the ground, gripping her head, and smashing her down the stairs. Additionally, prosecutors said that he repeatedly beat his daughter's legs, causing them to get bruised, in another incident. La'Quetta Small, according to the prosecution, mistreated her daughter on multiple occasions and once repeatedly punched her daughter in the chest, causing bruises.

Small’s administration has often been described as “unusual” and even "bizarre" by some. A local commenter recently told WPG Talk Radio, “Atlantic City employees get General Election Day off with pay… But, it’s ridiculous. If the goal is for more people to vote, and, this is the justification … that you give off employees in the hope that they will vote … We now have vote-by-mail on an unlimited basis … And, we now have nine days of early voting in New Jersey.”

Small also gave Atlantic City employees the day off with pay on November 8, for a “retreat” at the Showboat Atlantic City Island Water Park. Small dubbed that day a “Professional Staff Development” day.

Mayor Small and La'Quetta Small both previously pleaded not guilty to the original charges.

Source:

“Atlantic City mayor indicted and accused of asking daughter to retract claims that he abused her” , Zoë Richards, nbcnews.com, December 18, 2024.