TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that a former employee in the Camden
office of the state Department of Children
and Families was sentenced to prison today
for filling her own car for personal use at
state fueling stations.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Montrice Wright,
30, of Camden, who was a transportation aide
in the Camden office of Children and Families,
was sentenced to three years in prison by
Superior Court Judge M. Christine Allen-Jackson
in Gloucester County. Wright pleaded guilty
on Dec. 12 to second-degree official misconduct
for repeatedly using 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.
Wright
forfeited her state job and her pension and
is permanently barred from public employment
in New Jersey. Deputy Attorney General Robert
Czepiel handled today’s sentencing hearing.
The
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau
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.
The charges resulted from an investigation
by the State Police Official Corruption Unit
and the State Police Organized Crime Control
Bureau South.
In
addition to Wright, six other defendants have
entered guilty pleas. All of the government
employees who pleaded guilty were required
to forfeit their jobs and pensions and be
permanently barred from public employment
in New Jersey.
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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. On Dec. 19, she was
sentenced to two years of probation. Smalls
admitted she repeatedly used a state fuel
card to steal gas for her personal vehicle
and a friend’s vehicle 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. 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.
Under her plea agreement, the state recommended
a county jail term not to exceed 364 days
as a condition of probation. On Dec. 19,
she was sentenced to one year of probation
and was ordered to pay $500 in restitution.
-
Benny B. Sherman, 36, 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. Sherman admitted he took a state-issued
fuel card without authorization before he
lost his state job in 2007, and later used
it to put 12 gallons of gas into his car
at the state fueling station in Totowa.
Sherman was sentenced on March 5 to 364
days in county jail as a condition of five
years of probation.
-
Alexis R. Quezada, 29, of Clifton, a former
assistant family services worker in the
Paterson office of Children and Families,
pleaded guilty on Sept. 30 to third-degree
official misconduct. 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. Quezada was
sentenced on March 5 to three years of probation.
-
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.
He was sentenced on Nov. 7 to one year of
probation. 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. She was sentenced on
Oct. 10 to three years of probation. 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 presented the cases
to the state grand jury and have prosecuted
the cases for the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau.
The
charges against the remaining defendants are
pending. The indictments are merely accusations
and those defendants are presumed innocent
until proven guilty. A full list of the defendants
and charges in the indictments is contained
in the June 11, 2008 press release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
Attorney General Milgram 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,
the state Human Services Police Department,
and the state Department of Children and Families
for their support and assistance in the investigation.
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