Atlantic City mayor indicted after allegedly asking daughter to retract claims that he abused her
The mayor of Atlantic City, New Jersey, was charged with witness tampering this week after allegedly asking his daughter to “twist up” her previous abuse allegations against him to the police, prosecutors said.
An Atlantic County grand jury indicted Mayor Marty Small Sr., 50, on Tuesday, according to a news release from county prosecutor William Reynolds’ office.
Small and his wife, La’Quetta Small, the superintendent of Atlantic City Public Schools, were each indicted in September on charges tied to endangering the welfare of their teenage daughter. The mayor was also indicted on terroristic threats and aggravated assault.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that while those criminal charges were pending, Small allegedly asked his daughter in September to reverse her previous abuse claims against him, “specifically by asking her to state that she tripped and fell in her room when her head was injured.”
The alleged request by Small stemmed from accusations that on Jan. 13 he struck his daughter in the head repeatedly with a broom, resulting in her losing consciousness.
Small blasted the new indictment in a statement Wednesday, while adding that his attorney Edwin Jacobs would handle any further comments.
“A bad prosecutor can indict a ham sandwich and this is what happened here,” Small said in a statement. “We look forward to beating this bulls— case, Eddie Jacobs will do the rest of the talking for me.”
Jacobs did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday evening.
In addition to the broom incident, Small and his wife are accused of emotionally and physically abusing their daughter on several other occasions in December 2023 and January 2024, prosecutors said when they announced the earlier indictment.
During an argument on Jan. 3, the mayor allegedly threatened to harm his daughter by slamming her down the stairs, grabbing her head and tossing her to the ground, prosecutors said.
They also alleged that in another incident the mayor repeatedly punched his daughter’s legs, leaving them bruised. La’Quetta Small allegedly left her daughter bruised after repeatedly punching her chest in one incident, and abusing her on other occasions, according to prosecutors.
Small was appointed mayor in 2019 after now-former Mayor Frank Gilliam pleaded guilty to wire fraud and resigned. He was elected to a full four-year term in 2021.
