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TRENTON
- Division of Criminal Justice Director
Gregory A. Paw announced that a New Jersey
resident has pleaded guilty in a multi-state
stolen property ring and fencing operation.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, James J. Sanocki, 29, who resided
in both Frenchtown and Ewing, pleaded guilty
yesterday before Superior Court Judge Roger
F. Mahon in Hunterdon County to second-degree
receiving stolen property, third-degree
theft of moveable property and third-degree
conspiracy. The charges were contained in
a June 4, 2007 state grand jury indictment.
Under
the plea agreement, Sanocki faces a sentence
of five years in state prison and will be
required to pay full restitution to his
victims. He also must pay a $3,000 civil
insurance fraud fine. Judge Mahon scheduled
Sanocki’s sentencing for Aug. 15.
Two
of Sanocki’s co-defendants previously
were admitted into the Pre-Trial Intervention
program. Edwin Moorhouse, III, 30, of West
Palm Beach, Fla., was ordered to pay $31,410
in restitution, and Laurence B. Conner,
28, of Glassboro, was ordered to pay $3,398.
In
pleading guilty, Sanocki admitted that between
2001 and 2002, in New Jersey, Kentucky,
and elsewhere, he conspired with other persons
to knowingly receive stolen property and
sell, or fence, the stolen property to others.
The stolen items included two tractors,
nine motorcycles, several trailers, a dump
truck, various other pieces of equipment
including a Bob Cat skid steer loader, and
several all-terrain vehicles.
Sanocki
further admitted that in July 2002, he conspired
with Moorhouse to steal a 1996 Pontiac Trans-Am
in Ocean County. Sanocki also admitted that
between April 13 and June 10, 2002, he conspired
with Conner to fraudulently report the theft
of a Suzuki motorcycle to the New Hope,
Pa., Police Department. A false theft claim
was subsequently submitted to the State
Farm Insurance Company with respect to the
motorcycle.
State
Investigator Vincent Gaeta and Deputy Attorney
General Michael A. Monahan were assigned
to the investigation. Monahan represented
the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor
at the guilty plea hearing. The Jefferson
County Police Department in Louisville,
Ky., greatly assisted the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor in this investigation.
“Frequently
insurance fraud investigations lead to evidence
of stolen automobiles and other vehicles,
as well as owner initiated give ups,”
Prosecutor Brown said. “This office
will continue to follow evidence of fraud
and theft wherever it leads.”
Prosecutor
Brown noted that some important cases have
started with anonymous tips. People who
are concerned about insurance cheating and
have information about a fraud can report
it anonymously by calling the toll-free
hotline 1-877-55-FRAUD or visiting the Web
site www.njinsurancefraud.org.
State regulations permit an award to be
paid to an eligible person who provides
information that leads to an arrest, prosecution
and conviction for insurance fraud.
The
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor was
established by the Automobile Insurance
Cost Reduction Act of 1998. The office is
the centralized state agency that investigates
and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance
fraud, as well as Medicaid fraud.
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