TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram announced
that a New York State resident and his computer
recycling company pleaded guilty today to
offering illegal cash payments to a former
employee in a New Jersey state government
warehouse in return for special treatment
in state auctions of surplus computer equipment.
According
to Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni,
Jonathan Nappa, 37, of Liverpool, N.Y., pleaded
guilty to an accusation charging him with
third-degree offering an unlawful benefit
to a public servant for official behavior
before Superior Court Judge Robert Billmeier
in Mercer County. His company, Bruin Computer
Trading LLC, pleaded guilty to second-degree
offering an unlawful benefit to a public servant
for official behavior.
In
pleading guilty, Nappa admitted that he paid
$1,600 to William Gawroski, a former employee
in the Department of Treasury’s First
Avenue Warehouse in Hamilton, in exchange
for Gawroski revealing which lots of surplus
computer equipment being auctioned by the
state had more valuable equipment in them.
Gawroski supervised the loading of equipment
onto pallets by Department of Corrections
inmates and Juvenile Justice Commission residents.
One trailer load of pallets formed a lot.
Gawroski pleaded guilty in 2008 to an official
misconduct charge.
Under
their plea agreements, Nappa and Bruin Computer
must pay the state $46,000, representing the
estimated profits the company made on the
computer equipment it purchased in the state
auctions. The state will recommend that Nappa
be sentenced to a term of probation. Judge
Billmeier scheduled sentencing for March 11.
Bruin
Computer will be barred for 10 years from
doing business with any government entity
in New Jersey, while Nappa, and any other
company in which he has a substantial interest,
will be barred for five years. Bruin Computer
could face a criminal fine of up to $150,000,
and Nappa could face a criminal fine of up
to $15,000.
Deputy
Attorney General Anthony A. Picione, Deputy
Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau, took the guilty pleas for
the state.
The
charges resulted from an investigation by
the New Jersey State Police that commenced
when Treasury officials obtained information
that Gawroski was taking illegal payments
from Bruin Computer. The probe quickly expanded
to include allegations that the warehouse
supervisor, David Winkler, 48, of Bordentown,
and other employees were taking surplus metal
equipment to a non-approved recycler, selling
it for cash as scrap metal, and splitting
the money.
Winkler, Gawroski and two other defendants
– Dominick Mangine, 45, of Jackson,
and James Mate, 49, of Yardville – were
charged with illicitly selling more than $24,000
in scrap metal and dividing the proceeds between
July 2005 and April 2007. The surplus metal
items sold as scrap included desks, filing
cabinets and other furniture and equipment.
In
addition, Winkler and Mangine were charged
with assisting Gawroski to steal a computer
and related accessories from the warehouse
on Dec. 17, 2007. Another employee, Thomas
Sundstrom, 67, of Southampton, was also charged
with assisting in that theft.
Mate
pleaded guilty to second-degree official misconduct
and was sentenced on March 26, 2009 to three
years in state prison. Mangine, who held the
job of storekeeper at the warehouse, pleaded
guilty to a charge of third-degree pattern
of official misconduct and was sentenced on
Feb. 26, 2009 to 364 days in the Mercer County
Jail as a condition of two years of probation.
Gawroski
pleaded guilty on April 11, 2008 to third-degree
pattern of official misconduct. He faces probation.
Mate, Mangine and Gawroski are responsible
for full restitution for the scrap metal thefts
of $24,292. All of them forfeited their state
jobs.
Winkler
and Sundstrom were indicted on Nov. 20, 2008.
Sundstrom, 67, of Southampton, pleaded guilty
on Aug. 19 to third-degree official misconduct.
The state will recommend that he be sentenced
to 364 days in the county jail as a condition
of a term of probation.
The
charges are pending against Winkler, who is
free on $25,000 bail. The indictment charges
him with conspiracy (2nd degree), two counts
of official misconduct (2nd degree), theft
by unlawful taking (3rd degree), and misapplication
of entrusted property and property of government
(3rd degree).
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000,
while third-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000
fine. The indictment is merely an accusation
and the defendant is presumed innocent until
proven guilty.
The
investigation was conducted and coordinated
by Lt. Keith Dangler, Detective Sgt. 1st Class
John Cappetta and Detective Sgt. Vincent Greene
of the State Police State Governmental Security
Bureau Investigations Unit, and Deputy Attorneys
General Picione and David M. Fritch of the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.
Attorney
General Milgram noted that the Division of
Criminal Justice has established a toll-free
Corruption Tipline for the public to report
corruption, financial crime and other illegal
activities: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division Web site at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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