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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a former technical assistant
for the New Jersey Division of Taxation
pleaded guilty today to stealing $2,400
by using her access to the state’s
computer tax records to submit false Homestead
Rebate applications.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Natrina Guidry,
32, formerly of Willingboro but now of Baytown,
Texas, pleaded guilty before Superior Court
Judge Mitchel E. Ostrer in Mercer County
to second-degree official misconduct, a
charge contained in an Oct. 31, 2006 state
grand jury indictment. Under the plea agreement,
the state will recommend that Guidry be
sentenced to three years in state prison.
Judge
Ostrer scheduled Guidry’s sentencing
for March 20. Deputy Attorney General Vincent
J. Militello handled the guilty plea for
the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau, which investigated the case with
the Division of Taxation’s Office
of Criminal Investigation.
Guidry
admitted that between June and December
2001, she used her access to the state’s
tax database to enter three fraudulent Homestead
Rebate applications using false identifying
information. Guidry admitted she used her
home address for each application and received
three rebate checks, each for $800, which
she deposited into a personal credit union
account.
Guidry’s
duties as a technical assistant in the Information
and Publication Unit of the Division of
Taxation included handling correspondence
and answering phone calls concerning property
tax rebates. She was suspended after her
conduct came to light in early 2004, and
was terminated after a disciplinary hearing
was held in June 2004.
Attorney
General Milgram credited the Division of
Taxation’s Office of Criminal Investigation
for conducting an initial investigation
and referring the matter to the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. Investigator
Carolyn Fox led the investigation for the
Division of Taxation, Office of Criminal
Investigation, Internal Security Unit.
The
investigation was led for the Division of
Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau by Detective
Lee Bailey. Deputy Attorney General Perry
Primavera presented the case to the state
grand jury.
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