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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that John Fiore, former executive vice president
of the East Windsor Police Athletic League,
has been sentenced to state prison for steering
a PAL construction contract to a contractor
who built a deck at his home free of charge.
According
to Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni,
Fiore, 63, of Allentown, was sentenced late
yesterday to three years in state prison by
Superior Court Judge Mitchel Ostrer in Mercer
County. The judge ordered him to pay $8,000
in restitution to the East Windsor PAL. He
is permanently barred from public employment
and barred from public contracts for five
years. The judge permitted Fiore to remain
free without posting bail pending appeal of
his conviction. Fiore was convicted of conspiracy,
bribery and official misconduct on July 30
by a Mercer County jury following an 11-week
trial.
The
conspiracy and bribery charges merged into
the second-degree official misconduct charge
for purposes of sentencing. The state had
asked the judge to impose a sentence in the
statutory range for second-degree offenses,
which is five to 10 years in state prison.
However, in sentencing Fiore to three years
in prison, Judge Ostrer imposed a sentence
at the bottom of the range for third-degree
offenses. The state reserved its right to
appeal the sentence within 10 days.
Assistant
Attorney General Lewis Korngut conducted the
trial and represented the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau at sentencing. The
charges stem from an investigation by the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor within
the Division of Criminal Justice.
The
jury found that Fiore, a retired East Windsor
police officer, used his position as an officer
on the Board of Directors of the East Windsor
PAL to steer a contract to Jeffrey Nemes to
build the PAL a combined concession stand
and administration building on Airport Road
in East Windsor. The jury found that, in return
for Fiore influencing the Board of Directors
to hire Nemes’ company, Nemes built
a $12,000 deck, free of charge, at Fiore’s
former home in Washington Township, Mercer
County.
The
state’s investigation revealed a conspiracy
among Fiore, Nemes and a third man, Marc Rossi,
to arrange for Nemes Construction Company
to get the contract and overcharge the East
Windsor PAL for the project. The PAL paid
Nemes a total of $274,046, which was at least
$90,000 more than what the building should
have cost. Rossi received $5,000 for his role
in arranging the deal between Fiore, the East
Windsor PAL, and Nemes Construction Company.
The
investigation was conducted and coordinated
by Lt. Robert Stemmer, Civil Investigator
Joseph Salvatore, Analyst Paula Carter, Deputy
Attorney General Asha Vaghela and Assistant
Attorney General Korngut. Stemmer and Salvatore
were formerly assigned to the Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor but now are assigned to the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.
In
March, Nemes, 43, of Hamilton, pleaded guilty
to bribery, admitting he built the $8,000
deck for Fiore in return for the PAL contract.
The judge ordered Nemes to pay $8,000 in restitution
to the East Windsor PAL and imposed a five-year
state prison sentence, concurrent to an eight-year
sentence he was already serving on a 2007
bribery conviction obtained by the Division
of Criminal Justice.
Rossi
pleaded guilty to theft in 2003 in connection
with the $5,000 payment involving the PAL.
He was sentenced to three years in prison.
Nemes,
a former Hamilton Township police officer,
was convicted at trial in 2007 of offering
two Hamilton Township fire chiefs up to $500
and other rewards if they would delay fire
suppression and increase damage at fire scenes
so as to increase potential profits for Nemes'
company and an insurance adjustment firm owned
by Rossi. That conviction led to his prior
eight-year state prison sentence. Assistant
Attorney General Korngut also represented
the state in that trial.
In
addition, Nemes pleaded guilty in March to
theft for stealing insurance money from four
fire victims who hired him for repairs that
he never completed. For that charge, Nemes
received a concurrent jail sentence and was
ordered to pay $74,472 in restitution.
Rossi
pleaded guilty in 2003 to bribery and operating
an "arson-for-profit" insurance
fraud scheme. Rossi admitted to intentionally
setting at least six fires in the Trenton
area in 1999 so his public insurance adjustment
business would be hired to adjust the insurance
claims. Rossi was sentenced to eight years
in prison and was ordered to pay $542,853
in restitution and a $50,000 insurance fraud
fine.
Attorney
General Milgram and Director Gramiccioni noted
that the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau has established a toll-free Corruption
Tipline for the public to report corruption,
financial crime and other illegal activities.
The statewide Corruption Tipline is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division of Criminal Justice Web site 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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