NEWARK -- Bloomfield First Ward Councilman Elias Chalet pleaded guilty Tuesday to a second-degree bribery charge, admitting he solicited and accepted $15,000 from a resident trying to sell his property to the township.

Former Bloomfield First Ward Councilman Elias Chalet. (File photo)

Asked by defense attorney Peter W. Till whether he accepted the payments, Chalet, standing before the court in a dark suit, responded: "I sure did."

Chalet, a Democrat, was arrested in November 2015 by investigators with the state Attorney General's Office, which later obtained an indictment against him on charges of official misconduct, bribery, evidence tampering and hindering apprehension.

Chalet, who previously faced a recall attempt, was ordered to give up his council post and faces a lifetime ban on public employment. Speaking to reporters outside court, Till said Chalet's forfeiture of the council seat was in effect as of the plea.

Chalet left the building immediately after entering the plea, and did not comment to reporters outside the courtroom.

Chalet had been scheduled to stand trial later this year, after previously rejecting plea offers from state prosecutors.

Till did not directly address why his client had decided to take the plea deal after rejecting previous offers, but pointed to health problems Chalet has experienced since his arrest, and told reporters he felt the plea "was the appropriate conclusion under the circumstances."

"(Chalet) has accepted responsibility," he said.

While Chalet pleaded guilty, Till handed Deputy Attorney General Brian Faulk a check from his client, made out to the state for $15,000, which he also had been ordered to forfeit as a condition of the plea.

"The act of handing the state back the money today was something (Chalet) felt very strongly about," Till told reporters.

Authorities said that the business owner first met with Chalet on Oct. 8, 2015, in front of the councilman's real estate office on Broad Street in Bloomfield, where Chalet told him he would need $15,000 in cash to ensure the township went through with the purchase.

During a press conference at the Essex County Prosecutor's Office following the guilty plea, Attorney General Christopher Porrino said that the business owner -- who reported Chalet's demand to State Police -- recorded his subsequent meetings with the councilman for investigators.

Police swooped in to arrest Chalet after he received the last payment, of $5,000, on Nov. 16, 2015 -- the same day the council was schedule to vote on the property's purchase.

But when police moved in, Porrino said, Chalet locked himself in his office, where investigators believe he flushed the cash he had just received down the toilet.

"It's fitting he flushed his own money down the toilet at the same time he flushed his future and political career," Porrino said.

The now ex-councilman faces a sentence of five years in state prison, and will be ineligible for parole for at least two years, said Faulk, who prosecuted the case with Deputy Attorney General Cynthia Vazquez.

Till told Superior Court Judge Martin G. Cronin that Chalet would reserve his right to file a motion for a sentence reduction, and would ask that Cronin recommend he serve his sentence at Jones Farm in Ewing.

The judge said that while he could make a recommendation, the prison Chalet is sent to will ultimately be decided by the state.

Chalet's sentencing has been scheduled for July 10.

Thomas Moriarty may be reached at tmoriarty@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @ThomasDMoriarty. Find NJ.com on Facebook.