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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a former supervisor and two
other former employees at the Port Authority
of New York and New Jersey training academy
in Morris County were sentenced today for
collecting pay and reimbursement based on
false attendance, mileage and meal records.
According
to Director Taylor, Cotea Jones, 46, of
Palmer, Pa., the former supervisor of the
Tunnels, Bridges and Terminals Training
Academy in Morris County, was sentenced
to two years of probation and ordered to
pay $7,922 in restitution to the Port Authority
by Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan
in Hudson County. In addition, former academy
employee Vincent Price, 50, of Roselle,
N.J., was sentenced by Judge Callahan to
one year of probation and ordered to pay
$2,103, and former employee Stephen Valenzano,
43, of Hazlet, was sentenced to one year
of probation and ordered to pay $2,544 in
restitution.
The
defendants pleaded guilty to accusations
charging them with third-degree theft by
deception. Jones and Price pleaded on Nov.
9, and Valenzano, on Nov. 17. All are permanently
barred from public employment in New Jersey
as a result of their pleas. They had no
prior criminal records, and under New Jersey
law, there is a presumption against jail
or prison time if a defendant is sentenced
for a third-degree crime and has no prior
felony record. Deputy Attorney General Vincent
J. Militello prosecuted the case for the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau.
The
charges resulted from an investigation by
the Port Authority’s Office of Inspector
General, which began when a routine audit
uncovered irregularities in the records
submitted by the defendants. Detectives
Danny DiPrimo and John Fitzgerald conducted
the investigation for the Port Authority
OIG. The matter was referred to the Division
of Criminal Justice for prosecution. Detective
Laura Clarke was assigned to the investigation
for the Division of Criminal Justice.
Valenzano,
Jones and Price admitted that, for various
dates from September 2009 through January
2010, they submitted attendance sheets indicating
they worked a full day at the Morris County
training academy or at other training locations,
when, in fact, they had arrived late, left
early, or had not reported to work at all.
As a result, they were paid for a full day
of work. In addition, the three defendants
admitted that they submitted false forms
regarding mileage and meals that resulted
in them receiving reimbursements to which
they were not entitled.
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