Angelo Errichetti, a former two-term mayor of Camden, N.J., whose career as a state Democratic power broker ended in the early 1980s when he was ensnared in the congressional corruption scandal known as Abscam and served nearly three years in prison, died on May 16 at home in Ventnor, N.J. He was 84.

His death was confirmed by his daughter, Michele.

A native of Camden, Errichetti (pronounced err-ih-KEH-tee) took office in 1973, two years after race riots had torn apart the city. He was credited with easing racial tensions and hailed as a tireless advocate for his beleaguered hometown, a once-thriving manufacturing center whose long decline he was unable to stop.

“When I was running the city, we had no money, and I was putting out fires from riots,” he said to a reporter from The Courier-Post of Cherry Hill, N.J., in 2003.

Errichetti was hugely popular, endearing himself to the city’s low-income population in particular by refusing to raise taxes. For his second term he was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote. After his death, the current mayor, Dana Redd, ordered that flags at city buildings be flown at half-staff in his honor.

Errichetti, who was also a state senator from 1976 to 1981 — he served in both jobs simultaneously — was among the most influential politicians in southern New Jersey. It was his wielding of that influence that led to his downfall.

The scandal grew from an FBI investigation into political corruption beginning in 1978, when agents posing as wealthy Arabs and their representatives sought to grease the palms of public officials. Errichetti was caught on hidden cameras serving as an intermediary between the undercover agents and a Pennsylvania congressman, Michael Myers, and visiting the Long Island office of a bogus company, Abdul Enterprises Ltd., to pick up money. (Abscam is a contraction of “Abdul” and “scam.”)

The sting operation lasted two years and led to the conviction of 19 men, including Myers, four other congressmen and Sen. Harrison Williams Jr. of New Jersey, whom Errichetti had introduced to the agents. Errichetti was sentenced to six years in prison on bribery and conspiracy charges and served 32 months.

“I can only blame myself for the tremendous ego I developed, the kind of ego that gets a politician into trouble,” he said after his release in March 1986.

Errichetti’s wife, the former Dolores Mills, died in 2005. In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a sister, Dolores DiLorenzo, and two grandchildren.

After his release from prison, Errichetti worked as a consultant in real estate and other businesses. A movie inspired by Abscam, “American Hustle,” with Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence, is scheduled to open this year. A character a lot like Errichetti is played by Jeremy Renner.