Joseph A. Maressa Sr. (October 17, 1923 – October 30, 2012) was an American lawyer and Democratic Party politician who was elected to serve three terms in the New Jersey Senate, representing Legislative District 3B for his first two years and the 4th Legislative District for the remainder of his service in elected office. First elected to office in 1972, Maressa decided against running for office for a fourth term in 1982 after accepting a bribe to aid an Arab sheikh from an undercover FBI agent acting as part of the Abscam sting operation, though Maressa claimed that he had accepted the $10,000 as part of his patriotic efforts as an American to bring oil money back to the United States.