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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that the former principal at the
U.S. Wiggins Elementary School in Camden
pleaded guilty today to attempted theft
for her role in a scheme to bill the district
for more than $25,000 in extra wages for
school meetings that never took place.
Juanita
Worthy, 61, of Evesham, pleaded guilty before
Superior Court Judge Stephen M. Holden in
Camden County to third-degree attempted
theft by deception, a charge contained in
a March 19, 2007 state grand jury indictment.
The state will recommend a sentence of probation
for Worthy. Worthy previously resigned her
principal position and will be permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey.
Worthy
admitted that she participated in a scheme
to bill the Camden Board of Education $25,000
in extra wages for 14 School Leadership
Council members in connection with eight
meetings that never took place. Worthy admitted
she signed false paperwork stating that
she attended the fictitious meetings so
that she would be paid extra wages for her
attendance.
Worthy,
her daughter, Keah Worthy, 32, of Evesham,
a former teacher at Wilson Elementary School,
and their co-defendants, Michael Hailey,
67, of Delran, the former Wilson School
principal, and Patricia Johnson, 59, of
Atco, a former Wilson School administrator,
pressured teachers from the Wilson and Wiggins
schools to sign blank attendance sheets
for meetings of each school’s School
Leadership Council, an advisory group of
school stakeholders that includes teachers,
administrative staff and community representatives.
The
school board never paid for the School Leadership
Council meetings because it discovered they
had not been held.
Deputy
Attorneys General Susan Kase and Vincent
J. Militello of the Division of Criminal
Justice - Corruption Bureau are prosecuting
the case and took the guilty plea.
Hailey
pleaded guilty on Nov. 3 to second-degree
official misconduct and third-degree attempted
theft by deception. Johnson pleaded guilty
on Jan. 28 to second-degree conspiracy and
third-degree attempted theft by deception.
The state will recommend that both Hailey
and Johnson be sentenced to three to five
years in state prison.
In
pleading guilty, Hailey and Johnson admitted
their roles in the School Leadership Council
scheme. They also admitted they stole more
than $14,000 from parents and teachers by
deceiving them into paying for field trips
that were paid for by the school district.
Teachers conducted fundraisers with their
students and sometimes paid for students
whose parents could not afford the amounts
they were told were required for the bus
and other trip costs. The school board paid
the full cost of the trips by issuing checks
to the vendors involved. School board policy
prohibits charging elementary or middle
school students for curriculum-related field
trips.
On
Oct. 23, Keah Worthy pleaded guilty to attempted
theft by deception in connection with the
scheme involving the School Leadership Councils.
All
four defendants are scheduled to be sentenced
by Judge Holden on Feb. 6.
Attorney
General Milgram thanked Superintendent Rick
Fuentes and the State Police Official Corruption
Unit for leading the investigation. She
credited Sgt. Gary D. Sandes, who led the
investigation, Detective Gregory Shawaryn
and Lt. Gerard A. McHugh of the State Police,
and Detective Anthony Luyber of the Division
of Criminal Justice - Corruption Bureau.
Attorney
General Milgram noted that the Division
of Criminal Justice has established a statewide
Corruption Tipline: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division’s Web page at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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