REAL GANGSTERS. These guys make the Sopranos look good...

This makes me sick. But I still love my state.  You can take the boy out of Jersey, but you can't take the Jersey out of the boy.

A political consultant involved in a sweeping corruption scandal in New Jersey was found dead Tuesday in his Jersey CityJersey City apartment, a bottle of pills by his side, authorities said.

The consultant, Jack M. Shaw, was among 44 people arrested — including three mayors and two state lawmakers — in an FBI sting that started with an investigation into the black-market sale of human kidneys and fake Gucci handbags.

Federal prosecutors accused the 61-year-old Shaw of taking $10,000 in bribes for himself from a government informant and proposing that the cooperating witness make a $10,000 campaign contribution to an unnamed Jersey City official.

Shaw's cause of death hasn't yet been determined. Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio told The Jersey Journal that it doesn't seem to be a homicide, but nothing has been ruled out. An autopsy is being conducted.