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TRENTON - Attorney General
Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director
Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced that the
former principal of the H.B. Wilson Elementary
School in Camden was sentenced to prison today
for stealing $14,000 in field trip money from
students and teachers, and attempting to steal
$25,000 from the school district by billing
for fictitious meetings.
According to Director Gramiccioni,
Michael Hailey, 67, of Delran, was sentenced
to three years in state prison by Superior
Court Judge Stephen M. Holden in Camden County.
Hailey and Patricia Johnson,
59, of Atco, who was his top assistant as
school facilitator at the H.B. Wilson School,
pleaded guilty last year to stealing $14,000
from students and teachers by deceiving them
into paying for field trips that were paid
for by the school district. Hailey pleaded
guilty to second-degree official misconduct,
and Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree
conspiracy. Hailey and Johnson also pleaded
guilty to third-degree attempted theft by
deception for attempting to bill the Camden
Board of Education $25,000 in extra wages
for 14 members of School Leadership Councils
in connection with eight meetings that never
took place.
“It is shocking that
educators would attempt to defraud their school
district, diverting money from the classroom,
where it is needed,” said Attorney General
Milgram. “It is doubly shocking that,
in the case of defendants Hailey and Johnson,
they stole directly from students, who were
forced to pay their own way for field trips
already funded by the district.”
On Jan. 22, a judge ordered
that Hailey pay full restitution of the field
trip money using funds seized from a personal
bank account as a result of a civil forfeiture
action filed by the Attorney General’s
Office.
Judge Holden sentenced Johnson
on Feb. 6, along with two other defendants
who pleaded guilty last year to third-degree
theft by deception in connection with the
fraudulent scheme to bill the school district
for School Leadership Council meetings.
Holden sentenced Johnson to
three years of probation and 100 hours of
community service. He sentenced Juanita Worthy,
61, of Evesham, the former principal of the
U.S. Wiggins Elementary School, to five years
of probation and 300 hours of community service,
and sentenced her daughter, Keah Worthy, 33,
of Evesham, formerly a teacher at the H.B.
Wilson School, to two years of probation and
100 hours of community service
Deputy Attorneys General Susan
Kase and Vincent J. Militello prosecuted the
case and handled today’s sentencing
hearing for the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau.
“Parents and taxpayers
should not need to wonder whether school funds
are being used to educate children or are
being fraudulently diverted to enrich district
employees,” said Director Gramiccioni.
“We will continue to thoroughly investigate
allegations of corruption and vigorously prosecute
school officials found to have broken the
law.”
Hailey and Johnson knew that
the Camden Board of Education had approved
funding for the field trips when they deceived
parents and teachers into paying for them.
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
In the other scheme, the four
defendants 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.
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 State Investigator
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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