TRENTON – Attorney General
Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director
Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced that a former
employee of the state Department of Transportation
was sentenced to prison today for stealing
gas for his personal use from a state fueling
station.
According to Director Gramiccioni,
Stephen Witkowski, 60, of Ewing, a former
project engineer for the DOT, was sentenced
to three years in state prison by Superior
Court Judge Gerald J. Council in Mercer County.
Witkowski pleaded guilty on
Jan. 21 to an accusation charging him with
second-degree official misconduct. As a result,
he is permanently barred from public employment
in New Jersey.
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
state Department of Treasury 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 prosecuted the case
and represented the state at the sentencing
hearing.
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