TRENTON
- Attorney General Peter C. Harvey announced
that the Division of Criminal Justice
has charged an Essex County Prosecutor’s
Office investigator with breeching his
law enforcement duties and responsibilities
by stealing money entrusted to him through
his position as a crime scene investigator
-- monies that should have been secured
as evidence in an ongoing criminal investigation.
Attorney General Harvey said the indictment
of the Essex County Prosecutor’s
Office investigator comes in the wake
of ongoing investigations by the Division
of Criminal Justice targeting police corruption
and misconduct by officers in the Newark
Police Department. Attorney General Harvey
noted that the overwhelming majority of
Newark and Essex County police and law
enforcement officers serve and protect
the public welfare with the goal of making
the city and county safe areas in which
to live and work.
“This
investigation targeted an alleged corrupt
law enforcement officer who chose to break
the law for his own personal greed,”
said Attorney General Harvey. “Law
enforcement officers should not steal
evidence which then violate the constitutional
rights of the citizens whom we are sworn
to serve and protect.”
According to Vaughn L. McKoy, Director,
Division of Criminal Justice, John J.
Cosgrove, 33, Delores Drive, Edison, Middlesex
County, was charged via a State Grand
Jury indictment with official misconduct,
theft of movable property, theft by failure
to make required disposition of property
received, tampering with evidence, and
tampering with public records or information.
Cosgrove, assigned as an Investigator
with the Essex County Prosecutor’s
Office Crime Scene Unit since 1995, faces
up to 20 years in state prison and up
to $100,000 in fines upon any conviction.
The State Grand Jury indictment charges
that on July, 11, 2002, Cosgrove, in his
capacity as an Investigator with the Essex
County Prosecutor’s Office Crime
Scene Unit, responded to a homicide scene
located at 359 Bloomfield Ave. in Newark.
As a crime scene investigator, Cosgrove
was required to process, sketch, and/or
photograph crime scenes involving homicides,
carjackings, police shootings, and other
first-degree crimes. The indictment alleges
that a large amount of cash was found
in the pockets of the deceased victims’
pants by the responding medical examiner
and Investigator Cosgrove. A preliminary
report determined the amount of cash recovered
from the body of the homicide victim -
subsequently identified as Dennis “The
Grip” Fiore - to be $8,380.
Director McKoy noted that in 2003, the
New Jersey State Police and the Division
of Criminal Justice - Organized Crime
& Racketeering Bureau took control
of the Fiore homicide investigation. As
part of the ongoing investigation, information
was developed regarding the alleged theft
of cash from Fiore’s body. The investigation
determined that when the Newark Police
Department took custody of the Fiore homicide
evidence on July 12, the money was not
contained in the evidence folder, nor
had the cash been entered in the evidence
log. The indictment charges that Cosgrove
subsequently falsified official police
investigation and evidence reports to
conceal the theft of the monies.
Attorney General Harvey said that the
indictment charging Investigator Cosgrove
follows the indictment (Oct. 1, 2004)
of two Newark police officers on charges
of abusing their office by “shaking-down”and
stealing cash and other items from purported
drug dealers and the “planting”
of drugs on innocent victims to cover
the alleged illegal actions. Additionally,
the Division of Criminal Justice obtained
the indictment (Sept. 29, 2004) of a female
Newark police officer on charges of trafficking
in illegal drugs and a guilty plea (Sept.
23) from yet another Newark police officer
to charges of abusing his office by shaking-down
and stealing cash from purported drug
dealers.
The investigation was conducted by DSG
Jeffrey Kronenfeld and Det. John Pizzurro
of the New Jersey State Police Major Crimes
Unit and DSFC Joseph Celli and State Investigator
Kiersten Petony assigned to the Division
of Criminal Justice - Special Prosecutions
Bureau. The prosecution was coordinated
by Deputy Attorney General Robert Czepiel
of the Division of Criminal Justice -
Special Prosecutions Bureau. Additional
investigative assistance was provided
by the Essex County Prosecutors Office
and the Newark Police Department.
A copy of the indictment and related information
is available via the Division of Criminal
Justice Web page at www.njdcj.org.
An indictment is merely a charge and the
defendants are presumed innocent until
proven guilty in a court of law.
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