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TRENTON
- Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a Roselle Borough police
officer was sentenced today for his role
in an insurance fraud scam.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, John A. Smith, 38, of Columbus, was
ordered by Superior Court Judge James C.
Heimlich in Union County to serve one year
probation, 60 days in the Union County Jail’s
Sheriff Labor Assistance Program, and 300
hours of community service. He was ordered
to pay a $5,000 civil insurance fraud fine.
The judge ordered Smith to forfeit his job
as a police officer and to be permanently
barred from any law enforcement position
or public employment. The sentence follows
Smith’s April 16 guilty plea to official
misconduct, a charge contained in a Dec.
6, 2006 indictment. That indictment also
included a Plainfield Police detective and
seven other defendants. Seven of the other
defendants have pleaded guilty and been
sentenced.
At
the April 16 plea hearing, Smith admitted
that, in his role as an officer with the
Roselle Police Department, he filed a false
police report regarding an accident that
allegedly occurred on December 11, 2002.
Smith admitted that he made the report appear
that he was present at the scene and was
reporting events and information that he
personally observed. He further admitted
that, in fact, he was never at the alleged
scene, but rather created his report entirely
at the behest of co-defendant Marco Rebelo
who provided all the pertinent details contained
in the report. This report was then used
by other co-defendants to substantiate a
false insurance claim to Clarendon National
Insurance Company. Rebelo, 33, of Avenel,
was sentenced on June 1 to four years in
state prison.
The
other police officer, Samad Abdel, 42, of
Roselle, pleaded guilty on Dec. 12, 2006,
to two counts of official misconduct for
writing false accident reports. He was sentenced
on May 25 to one year of probation by Judge
Heimlich and was ordered to pay a $5,000
civil insurance fraud fine. He also was
ordered to forfeit his police employment
and to be permanently barred from any future
law enforcement position or public employment.
State
Investigators Thomas Harrington and Lisa
Egan, Civil Investigators Raymond Britton,
Arthur Williams and Joseph Burro, Administrative
Analyst Christine Runkle and Deputy Attorney
General Joseph J. Egan Jr. handled the case.
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