TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that a former employee in the Camden office
of the state Department of Children and
Families has pleaded guilty to charges she
filled her own car for personal use at state
fueling stations. Previously, six other
defendants pleaded guilty to charges of
stealing government gas.
The
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau obtained state grand jury indictments
charging the defendants on June 11 as a
result of an investigation by the New Jersey
State Police Official Corruption Unit and
the State Police Organized Crime Control
Bureau South.
Montrice
Wright, 29, of Camden, who
was a transportation aide in the Camden
office of Children and Families, pleaded
guilty on Friday, Dec. 12, to second-degree
official misconduct before Superior Court
Judge M. Christine Allen-Jackson in Gloucester
County. Under her plea agreement, she faces
a state prison sentence of three years.
She forfeited her state job and is permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey.
In addition, she is required to forfeit
her pension, pay restitution, and continue
to cooperate in the investigation. Wright
admitted she repeatedly used a state-issued
fuel card to pump gas for her personal vehicle
and friends’ vehicles at state pumps
in Berlin, Deptford, West Deptford and Cherry
Hill.
Previously
five other government workers and one private
citizen named in the June indictment entered
guilty pleas:
Sharon
Smalls, 38, of Camden, another
transportation aide in the Camden office
of Children and Families, pleaded guilty
on Nov. 10 to third-degree official misconduct
before Judge Allen-Jackson. She faces a
sentence of probation. She also forfeited
her state job and is permanently barred
from public employment in New Jersey. In
addition, she is required to forfeit her
pension, pay restitution, and continue to
cooperate in the investigation. Smalls admitted
she repeatedly used a state fuel card to
steal gas for her personal vehicle and the
vehicle of a friend at the state pumps in
Berlin and Cherry Hill.
Nicole
Millner, 33,
of Camden, a private citizen, pleaded guilty
on Nov. 5 to third-degree official misconduct
before Judge Allen-Jackson. Under her plea
agreement, the state will recommend a county
jail term not to exceed 364 days as a condition
of probation. She will be permanently barred
from public employment and must continue
to cooperate in the investigation. Millner
admitted she used a state fuel card provided
by Wright, her cousin, to repeatedly steal
gas for her personal vehicle at the state
pumps in Deptford, West Deptford and Cherry
Hill.
Benny
B. Sherman, 35,
of Paterson, a former vehicle dispatcher/coordinator
for the Paterson office of Children and
Families, pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 to
third-degree official misconduct before
Superior Court Judge Ernest M. Caposela
in Passaic County. He faces 364 days in
the county jail as a condition of a sentence
of probation, and is permanently barred
from public employment in New Jersey. In
addition, he is required to forfeit his
pension, pay restitution, and continue to
cooperate in the investigation. Sherman
admitted he took a state-issued fuel card
without authorization before he lost his
state job in 2007. He used it to put 12
gallons of gas into his personal car in
April 2008 at the state fueling station
in Totowa.
Alexis
R. Quezada, 29,
of Clifton, a former assistant family services
worker in the Paterson office of Children
and Families, also pleaded guilty on Sept.
30 to third-degree official misconduct before
Judge Caposela in Passaic County. He faces
probation under his plea agreement. Quezada
forfeited his state job and is permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey.
In addition, he is required to forfeit his
pension, pay restitution and continue to
cooperate in the investigation. He admitted
he used a state fuel card to take 16 gallons
of gas for his personal vehicle in April
at the state pumps in Clifton.
Jesse
Rodriguez, 45, of Audubon,
a former vehicle coordinator for the Camden
office of Children and Families, pleaded
guilty on Sept. 29 to third-degree official
misconduct before Judge Allen-Jackson. He
was sentenced on Nov. 7 to one year of probation.
He forfeited his state job and is permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey.
He forfeited his pension, paid restitution,
and was ordered to continue to cooperate
in the investigation. He admitted he used
a state fuel card to put 12 gallons of gas
into his personal car in July 2007 at the
state pumps in West Deptford.
Sandra
G. Ingram, 38, of Camden,
a former clerk for the Camden City Board
of Education, pleaded guilty on Aug. 18
to third-degree official misconduct before
Judge Allen-Jackson. She was sentenced on
Oct. 10 to three years probation. She forfeited
her school district job and is permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey.
She forfeited her pension and was ordered
to pay restitution and continue to cooperate
in the investigation. Ingram admitted she
used a state fuel card obtained by Smalls
to fuel her own vehicle several times at
the state pumps in Cherry Hill.
Deputy
Attorneys General Robert Czepiel and Peter
Lee handled the cases and took the guilty
pleas for the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau.
The
judges set the following dates for sentencing
for the defendants: Wright on Feb. 6; Smalls
and Millner on Dec. 19; Sherman and Quesada
on Feb. 26, 2009.
The
Division of Criminal Justice obtained 10
state grand jury indictments on June 11
charging a total of 13 defendants: six employees
of the state Department of Children and
Families, two employees of the City of Camden,
four employees of the Camden City Board
of Education, and one private citizen. A
full list of the defendants and charges
is contained in the June 11 press release
at www.njpublicsafety.com.
The
charges against the remaining defendants
are pending. The indictments are merely
accusations and those defendants are presumed
innocent until proven guilty.
Attorney
General Milgram credited Deputy Attorneys
General Czepiel and Lee for presenting the
cases to the state grand jury, and credited
the following detectives for the investigation:
From
the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption
Unit: Detective Sgt. 1st Class Robert
Schulte, Detective Sgt. Geoffrey P. Forker,
Detective Sgt. Brice L. Cote, Detective
Sgt. David A. Smith, Detective Rachel Vogel,
Detective Kevin J. Plumaker, Detective Deniele
DeBoer and Detective James Sansone.
From
the New Jersey State Police Organized Crime
Control Bureau South: Lt. Miguel A. Cartagena,
Detective Sgt. 1st Class Kenneth F. Farrell,
Detective Sgt. 1st Class Glenn H. Pender,
Detective Sgt. Vincent P. Coppola, Detective
David D. Caracciolo, Detective Timothy Steinmetz,
Detective George Wren and Detective Anthony
Carugno.
Attorney
General Milgram also thanked the state Department
of Treasury and the state Human Services
Police Department for their support and
assistance in the investigation.
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