TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that a Newark man was sentenced today for
falsely claiming he was injured in a bus accident,
when, in fact, he was not involved in the
accident.
According
to Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden
Brown, Princeton Smith, 32, of Newark, was
ordered by Superior Court Judge Michael A.
Petrolle in Essex County to serve two years
probation and 100 hours of community service.
The defendant previously served 35 days in
Essex County Jail. The sentence was based
on Smith’s guilty plea to attempted
theft by deception, a charge contained in
a June 10, 2008 Essex County grand jury indictment.
In
pleading guilty on March 18, Smith admitted
that he fraudulently claimed that on Jan.
11, 2005, he was a passenger on a bus and
was injured when the bus collided with a passenger
car. Smith was not a passenger on the bus
at the time of the accident. Smith further
admitted that between Jan. 11 and July 20,
2005, he filed a false claim with U.S Fidelity
and Guaranty Co. in an attempt to obtain money
for a bus accident he in which he was not
involved.
The
bus was owned and operated by Independent
Bus Company (IBC) and the claim was administered
by Sedgwick CMS, an insurance claims administrator
for Independent Bus Company. Smith filed a
civil suit seeking damages from IBC as a result
of the purported accident.
Detective
Wendy Wylie and Deputy Attorney General James
Flanagan were assigned to the matter. Flanagan
represented the State at the sentencing. Prosecutor
Brown thanked the Independent Bus Company
and Sedgwick CMS for their assistance in this
matter.
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