NJ mayor says ‘only ‘guilty' of good parenting' while pleading not guilty to tampering

Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small Sr. says he’s not guilty of witness tampering by asking his daughter to lie about alleged abuse at the hands of Small and his wife, but is “guilty” of being a good parent.

The statement from Atlantic City’s mayor came through an attorney as he pleaded not guilty to witness tampering involving Small and his wife’s child abuse case on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025.

“Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small entered his plea of not guilty this morning because he is completely innocent of the accusations against him,” attorney Jordan Barbone, of Atlantic City’s Jacobs & Barbone law firm, said. “A father who explains to his child the value of being truthful is only ‘guilty’ of good parenting, not witness tampering.”

Thursday’s hearing was brief as Small and his wife, La’Quetta, were flanked by attorneys.

Before the hearing, Small walked alone as he entered the Atlantic County courthouse on a brisk, bright morning.

“It’s a great day in the city of Atlantic City,” Small told NBC10’s Siobhan McGirl.

While walking into court, Small mostly only offered “no comment” to McGirl’s several questions about his response to the allegations against him.

“You all ask me the same questions every time,” Small quipped.

Atlantic City’s Democratic mayor is accused of abusing his teenage daughter and asking her to lie about how she sustained a head injury.

Small, 50, was indicted in December 2024 with third-degree witness tampering involving the girl, whom he and his wife — the New Jersey seaside gambling resort city’s superintendent of schools — were previously charged with assaulting and abusing.

In October 2024, the Smalls pleaded not guilty to the abuse charges.

After Thursday’s hearing, La’Quetta Small didn’t respond to a reporter’s question about if she would resign her school post.

Allegation of witness tampering against Atlantic City Mayor Marty Small.

The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office said Marty Small asked his daughter to “twist up” a statement she had given to investigators regarding his alleged abuse of her last winter.

“It is alleged that during the month of September 2024, while criminal charges against him were pending for abusing his juvenile daughter, J.S., the defendant asked his daughter to do him a favor and ‘twist up’ the story she had previously told police about alleged abuse allegations she made against him specifically by asking her to state that she tripped and fell in her room when her head was injured,” prosecutors wrote.

“This was in reference to an alleged incident on January 13, 2024, when Marty Small, Sr. is alleged to have hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom causing her to lose consciousness,” prosecutors added.

A grand jury returned the indictment for the third-degree witness tampering charge after the allegation previously came to light in November.

Prosecutors allege that Small asked his daughter to contradict her previous claim of being abused while knowing he was about to be indicted on the original child abuse charge. The alleged request was made two days before a grand jury indicted Marty and La’Quetta Small.

Prosecutors said both parents hit and emotionally abused the girl, who was 15 to 16 years old, on occasions last winter.

Prosecutors said that on Jan. 13, 2024, Marty Small hit his daughter multiple times in the head with a broom, causing her to lose consciousness. Ten days earlier, they said, Small argued with his daughter, grabbing her head, throwing her to the ground and threatening to throw her down the stairs. The mayor also is accused of punching his daughter in the legs, causing bruising.

La’Quetta Small is accused of punching her daughter multiple times on the chest, leaving bruising. She is also accused of dragging her daughter by the hair and striking her with a belt on her shoulders, leaving marks.