By KEVIN RIORDAN
Courier-Post Staff

Milton Milan is coming back to Camden Friday to be sentenced on federal corruption charges.

I can just imagine what the former mayor will say to the marshals as they bring him into the city on I-676:

"That's Fairview on the right. I wanted to do great things for Fairview. Great things! Then I got set up. Because I'm Hispanic.

"Here's the cement plant I brought to Camden. Now nobody wants that plant to open. Probably because I'm Hispanic.

"The Battleship New Jersey will be over there. Milton Milan brought that baby to Camden, but nobody gives him credit. I don't have to tell you guys why.

"That's City Hall, where the governor stopped by to give me respect right after I got sworn in. Man, that was a sweet time.

"City Hall was where I came up with great ideas. Like having Camden go bankrupt. Come to think of it, maybe the bankrupt idea was one of the many that came from my advisers.

"I sure loved parking my mayormobile and walking into City Hall with my bodyguard! Oh, the new mayor has a bodyguard too? For that much overtime? Wow!

"She sure must love being mayor. I know I did. Until everybody started the stupid questions about drugs and murder and mobsters.

"I thought JR was a banker. The guy gave out loans! Do you ask PNC where it gets its money? And what do I know about banks, anyway? I thought bankruptcy was a great idea!

"Yeah, I flunked a lie detector test about that drug dealer's murder. So what? Those tests are rigged.

"And the guys who came to my office, the ones with the funny nicknames and the sunglasses and the wads of cash? I thought they were reporters!

"I'm kidding. I thought they were legitimate businessmen that didn't want some flunky to blow their legitimate investment in Camden, so they wanted to give it to Milton Milan. In cash.

"Besides, what do I know about the mob? I'm not Italian. I' m Hispanic!

"Once everybody was done trashing Milton Milan, though, even his own people turned on him. That hurt.

"I wish I could show you the new skating rink in East Camden. I got that thing built for the kids. Because I was a poor kid in Camden once, and I know what that's like.

"And it meant a lot to me that some Hispanic kid could look up to Milton Milan and think, `Maybe I can be mayor of Camden someday.'

"So mark my word guys.

"This sentencing thing is not the end of Milton Milan.

"No way.

"Milton Milan will be back."

Kevin Riordan's column runs Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Contact him at (856) 486-2604 or kriordan@courierpostonline.com