TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a suspended manager for the
New Jersey Department of Corrections (DOC)
pleaded guilty today to conspiring with
an alarm system contractor to rig bids for
DOC contracts.
According
to Director Taylor, Frederick J. Armstrong,
60, of Pemberton Borough, pleaded guilty
before Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder
in Camden County to a single charge of conspiracy
to commit the crimes of official misconduct,
unlawful restraint of trade, theft by deception,
making false representations for government
contracts, and misconduct by a corporate
official. Armstrong is suspended without
pay from his job as a construction management
specialist in the DOC Capital Planning &
Construction Unit.
The
charge was contained in a Jan. 14, 2009
state grand jury indictment which also charged
Paul Kerth, 58, of Collingswood, and three
companies that Kerth owns: Independent Alarm
Distributors, Inc., Adirondack Alarm, and
Automatic Alarm Associates.
In
pleading guilty, Armstrong admitted that
he assisted Kerth in submitting rigged bids
to the DOC and used his influence over contracting
procedures to steer contracts awarded by
the department to Independent Alarm. Under
the plea agreement, the state will recommend
that Armstrong be sentenced to three years
in state prison. He must forfeit his job
and will be permanently barred from public
employment in New Jersey.
Deputy
Attorney General Steven J. Zweig took the
guilty plea for the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau. Judge Snyder
scheduled sentencing for May 14.
On Sept. 30, 2009, Kerth and his three companies
each pleaded guilty to third-degree theft
by deception. The state will recommend that
Kerth be sentenced to a term of probation
conditioned upon him serving 364 days in
the county jail. He and his companies are
barred from public contracts in New Jersey
for five years, and he must pay $150,000
in restitution into the state’s Anti-Trust
Revolving Fund for anti-trust enforcement
efforts.
An
investigation by the DOC Special Investigations
Division and the Division of Criminal Justice
Corruption Bureau revealed that between
April 1999 and December 2004, Kerth and
his companies, with Armstrong’s assistance,
rigged at least nine DOC contracts with
contract prices that, in the aggregate,
exceeded $230,000.
The
investigation was conducted and coordinated
for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau by Lt. Keith Lerner, Detective Paul
Marfino Jr., Detective David Patella and
Deputy Attorney General Zweig. Senior Investigators
Manuel Alfonso and Charles Walters conducted
the investigation for the Department of
Corrections Special Investigations Division.
Attorney
General Dow thanked the Department of Corrections
for its referral and extensive assistance
in the investigation.
Director
Taylor 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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