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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a former employee of the
state Department of Transportation pleaded
guilty today to stealing gas for his personal
use from a state fueling station.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Stephen Witkowski,
59, of Ewing, a former project engineer
for the DOT, pleaded guilty to an accusation
charging him with second-degree official
misconduct before Superior Court Judge Gerald
J. Council in Mercer County.
Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Witkowski be sentenced to three years
in state prison. He will be permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey.
Judge
Council scheduled Witkowski’s sentencing
for March 11.
In
pleading guilty, Witkowski admitted that
he repeatedly obtained gas for his personal
use at the state’s West Trenton fueling
station. Witkowski activated the state pump
using a magnetic swipe card issued to him
to fuel the state vehicle assigned to him
by the DOT for his job.
Witkowski
was charged as a result of an investigation
by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. The investigation revealed that
during a two-year period, Witkowski regularly
filled two to three portable five-gallon
containers with gas at the state pump every
two weeks. He filled the containers when
he stopped to fuel the state vehicle and
used the gas in the containers for his lawn
mower and personal vehicle.
Witkowski
resigned from the DOT on Aug. 1, 2008, while
facing disciplinary action for his conduct
as a result of a separate investigation
by the DOT Internal Investigation Unit.
He paid $5,874 in restitution to the DOT
at that time. DOT referred the case to the
Division of Criminal Justice.
Attorney
General Milgram thanked the Department of
Transportation for its referral. The investigation
was conducted and coordinated for the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau by
Detective Sgt. Dino Dettorre and Deputy
Attorney General Asha Vaghela. Deputy Attorney
General Vaghela took the guilty plea.
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