CHESILHURST OFFICIAL ASKED TO STEP DOWN

A school board member is being asked to resign because her husband
was recently convicted of aiding a multi-state drug ring in smuggling
more than three tons of marijuana.

School board President Mary Ellen Tillmon, in a letter mailed to
school board members and others on Friday, asked for the resignation
of Anita Robinson, a school board member since 1999.

Robinson, who also is a Democratic candidate in this month' s primary
for a three-year borough council seat, has not been charged in the
case.

She has refused to comment despite repeated attempts to contact her.

Robinson's husband, Ecclesiastes Robinson, 36, was convicted May 17
in federal court in Brooklyn, N.Y., on charges of conspiracy to
possess with the intent to distribute marijuana. He faces up to 20
years in prison when he is sentenced on July 30.

Tillmon said her letter was prompted by concern for the children in
the school district.

"The children of Chesilhurst represent its future; thus I cannot
support you. You obviously chose to ignore your husband's involvement
in the proven crime," the letter reads. In addition to school board
members, it was addressed to state Attorney General John Farmer,
Camden County Prosecutor Lee Solomon, state Commissioner of Education
Vito Gagliardi, Camden County Superintendent Daniel Mastrobuono and
Freeholder Riletta Cream.

Ecclesiastes Robinson, a former FedEx security manager at Pier 40 on
the Hudson River in New York, remains in custody at the Metropolitan
Detention Center in Brooklyn until sentencing.

According to federal prosecutors, he provided labels with phony FedEx
account numbers for Mark Morant, a Jamaican drug dealer. Judy
Philips, assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District in
Brooklyn, said Robinson also warned Morant and his gang about
investigations by law enforcement and other agencies.

"He would tip off and advise the leader of the organization when
Customs would come in and when contacted by other law enforcement,"
she said.

Robinson, who lived in Chesilhurst, was heard on a wiretap placed by
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency on Morant's cell phone, Philips
said. Morant was arrested in New York on April 13 and is in federal
custody in Los Angeles awaiting trial.

Morant and his ring used FedEx to ship marijuana from Los Angeles to
the East Coast, Philips said. The ring, she said, circulated drugs in
California, New York, New Jersey, Atlanta and Florida.

Robinson helped distribute between 6,600 to 22,000 pounds of
marijuana from January 1999 to April 2000, Philips said. Robinson was
paid $30,000 at the time he joined the conspiracy in January 1999,
she said.

The drugs were estimated to be worth up to $2.3 million. The ring
used FedEx to ship more than 100 tons of marijuana from Los Angeles
to the East Coast from June 1998 to April 2000.

Eight FedEx workers, including Robinson, were arrested in New York on
April 13, 2000. Seven of the workers pleaded guilty last year to
conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana.

Chesilhurst School Superintendent Leonard Binowski declined comment
on whether Anita Robinson should resign.

"I was shocked about the findings of the court. She's a good board
member and she certainly has dedicated her time and service,"
Binowski said. He said her term expires in 2002.

Michael Curtis, a Democrat running with Robinson, said: " This should
be left for the polls. Anita should be judged for what she's doing,
not what her husband has done."

Supporters of Robinson's opponents for council also are raising the
issue in the campaign.

"If she's unaware of this, how can she make decisions in any kind of
government?" Tillmon said on Monday.

Tillmon supports incumbents Elaris Robinson, who is not related to
Anita Robinson or her husband, and Angela Shaffer in the June 26
primary.

"How can anyone support her (Robinson)? I simply would not vote for
someone whose husband was convicted," Shaffer said.