TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a former administrative assistant
for the New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission
pleaded guilty today to official misconduct
for submitting false time sheets in order
to collect more than $10,000 in overtime
pay for hours she did not work.
According
to Director Taylor, Cindy K. Franks, 50,
of Morrisville, Pa., pleaded guilty to an
accusation charging her with second-degree
official misconduct before Superior Court
Judge Robert C. Billmeier in Mercer County.
Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Franks be sentenced to state prison
for a term of no more than five years. She
must pay restitution to the Juvenile Justice
Commission of $10,313 and may face an additional
fine of up to double that amount. She will
be permanently barred from public employment
in New Jersey.
In
pleading guilty, Franks admitted that between
September 2005 and April 2007, she submitted
time sheets that contained false information
about overtime hours that she worked on
a special project that was assigned to her
at the Juvenile Justice Commission. She
admitted that she falsely reported working
various periods of overtime that she did
not actually work, and obtained payment
for that time of $10,313 to which she was
not entitled.
Judge
Billmeier scheduled sentencing for May 6.
Deputy
Attorney General Thomas R. Clark prosecuted
the case and took the guilty plea for the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. The case was investigated by Sgt.
David Salzmann and Lt. Stanley Beet Jr.
of the Division of Criminal Justice.
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