David Friedland, who died April 21, 2022, aged 84, was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician from Hudson County, New Jersey who served in the New Jersey General Assembly from 1966 to 1974 and then was elected to the Senate, serving from 1978 until his conviction on racketeering charges in 1980.

https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/fl/miami/david-joel-friedland-14574459

While awaiting sentencing, Friedland disappeared in September 1985 by faking his death in a supposed drowning incident off Grand Bahama. He was one of the U.S. government's most wanted fugitives until his capture in the Maldives in 1987, where he drew attention to himself after creating a successful chain of scuba diving shops.

In article <7ec8bb89-0a05-4d55-a7de-728011c1a268n@googlegroups.com>,
Michael Rhodes <mig73allenford2002@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> David Friedland, who died April 21, 2022, aged 84, was an American lawyer and
> Democratic Party politician from Hudson County, New Jersey who served in the
> New Jersey General Assembly from 1966 to 1974 and then was elected to the
> Senate, serving from 1978 until his conviction on racketeering charges in
> 1980.
>
> https://www.echovita.com/us/obituaries/fl/miami/david-joel-friedland-14574459
>
> While awaiting sentencing, Friedland disappeared in September 1985 by faking
> his death in a supposed drowning incident off Grand Bahama. He was one of the
> U.S. government's most wanted fugitives until his capture in the Maldives in
> 1987, where he drew attention to himself after creating a successful chain of
> scuba diving shops.

https://observer.com/2009/02/the-amazing-story-of-david-friedland/

The amazing story of David Friedland

By wallye • 02/26/09 11:18am

A list of the most memorable characters of New Jersey political history
would have to include David Friedland, a Jersey City Democrat who
served in both houses of the Legislature and then went to prison only
after leading federal marshals on a worldwide chase to find him.

After his 1980 criminal conviction for taking a $360,000 kickback for
arranging a loan to the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local
701 pension plan in North Brunswick, Friedland agreed to cooperate with
federal prosecutors and was placed in the witness protection program.
He was later indicted on charges of defrauding the Teamsters pension
fund while under federal protection.

In 1985, while awaiting sentencing, Friedland disappeared. He faked his
death in a scuba diving accident in the Bahamas, but authorities found
the evidence suspicious and continued to look for the former Hudson
County Senator. Using a fake U.S. passport, he had traveled to Europe,
Asia and Africa. Two years later, the U.S. Marshal from New Jersey,
Arthur Borinsky, captured Friedland in the Maldives Islands, off the
coast of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean. As the owner of chain of five
scuba diving shops, Friedland was living an opulent lifestyle that
attracted the notice of local officials.

Friedland grew up in a political family: his father, Jacob Friedland,
represented Jersey City in the State Assembly from 1939 to 1951. The
elder Friedland had a law practice that represented labor unions; he
was convicted in the same kickback scheme as his son, and at age 79,
was sentenced to two years in federal prison.

David Friedland was elected to the State Assembly in 1965, at the age
of 28. In 1968, Deputy N.J. Attorney General William Brennan III (the
son of the Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court) charged that
several state legislators were "entirely too comfortable" with
organized crime figures. Friedland was later identified as one of those
legislators, although a grand jury never filed charges against him.

He was elected Assembly Minority Leader in 1971. Later that year, the
New Jersey Supreme Court suspended his license to practice law for six
months because of unethical behavior. Friedland was accused of
conspiring with the Woodbridge Township Prosecutor, Norman Robbins, to
drop criminal charges against a loanshark with ties to Joseph
Zicarelli, the alleged Hudson County crime boss. Friedland was
re-elected to the Assembly in 1971 by a wide margin.

After Democrats won control of the Assembly in 1971, Friedland
engineered a deal with Republicans to elect Thomas Kean as Speaker.
Four Democratic Assemblymen, including Joseph Higgins (D-Elizabeth),
agreed to back a Republican for Speaker in exchange for committee
chairmanships and staff.

Friedland did not seek re-election to a fifth term in 1973, but came
back four years later to run for State Senator. His fortunes improved
in May 1977 when Thomas F.X. Smith was elected Mayor of Jersey City,
and in June 1977 he ousted incumbent Joseph Tumulty in the 32nd
district Senate primary. He forfeited his seat upon his criminal
conviction.

After his capture, he was sentenced to eight years in federal prison.
Higgins, who was part of the Democratic coalition that helped make Kean
the new Assembly Speaker, was later sentenced as part of the same
scandal that brought Friedland down.

Friedland was released from prison in July 1997 and now lives in
Florida.