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TRENTON – Attorney General
Anne Milgram announced that a full-time National
Guard recruiter pleaded guilty today to defrauding
a federally funded program that provides part-time
soldiers with cash incentives for recruiting
new soldiers into the National Guard.
According to Criminal Justice
Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni, Gregory Fletcher,
32, of Lower Township, pleaded guilty to third-degree
theft by deception before Superior Court Judge
Jeanne T. Covert in Burlington County. The
charge was contained in an accusation filed
by Deputy Attorney General Pearl Minato of
the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau.
Under the plea agreement,
the state will recommend that Fletcher be
sentenced to three years of probation and
50 hours of community service. He must pay
$8,500 in restitution to the Guard Recruiting
Assistance Program (GRAP). Judge Covert scheduled
sentencing for Dec. 11.
In pleading guilty, Fletcher
admitted that he fraudulently obtained GRAP
payments totaling $8,500 to which he was not
entitled. GRAP provides monetary incentives
to part-time National Guard soldiers to solicit
new recruits during their personal time. Full-time
recruiters such as Fletcher are not eligible
for the incentives. A part-time National Guard
soldier who registers with GRAP as a recruiting
assistant receives $1,000 for referring a
recruit who enlists, and an additional $1,000
if the recruit enters basic training.
An investigation by the New
Jersey State Police and the Division of Criminal
Justice revealed that Fletcher accessed or
created GRAP accounts for three part-time
soldiers and submitted false information indicating
they had referred eight new recruits. He provided
his own bank account number for the direct
deposit of the monetary incentives for the
three recruiting assistants, resulting in
his receipt of a total of $8,500 in GRAP incentives.
GRAP is federally funded but
administered by a private corporation, Document
and Packaging Brokers, Inc. The investigation
started with a tip from that company to the
U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division,
which referred the matter to the New Jersey
Division of Criminal Justice.
The case was investigated
by Detective Glenn Sefick and Detective Sgt.
Myles A. Cappiello of the New Jersey State
Police Official Corruption Bureau and Deputy
Attorney General Minato.
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