TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that a former full-time National Guard recruiter
was sentenced today for 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, 33, of Lower Township, was
sentenced to three years of probation and
ordered to serve 50 hours of community service
by Superior Court Judge Jeanne T. Covert in
Burlington County. He must pay $8,500 in restitution
to the Guard Recruiting Assistance Program
(GRAP). Fletcher pleaded guilty on Oct. 26
to third-degree theft by deception.
Deputy
Attorney General Pearl Minato prosecuted the
case for the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau and represented the state
at the sentencing hearing.
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
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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