TRENTON
- Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced
that an Atlantic County man was sentenced
today after pleading guilty to conspiracy
to commit aggravated arson in Camden County.
The defendant is currently serving an 11-year
prison sentence after being convicted of attempted
theft by deception, conspiracy, and witness
tampering charges related to a separate fire
in Atlantic County.
Samuel
Siligato, 62, of Hammonton, was sentenced
by Superior Court Judge Ronald J. Freeman
in Camden County to five years in state
prison. The sentence will run concurrent
to the 11-year prison term Siligato is already
serving. Siligato was also ordered to pay
$83,354.84 in restitution to Farm Family
Casualty Insurance Company. Siligato pleaded
guilty on Feb. 27 to second-degree conspiracy
to commit aggravated arson. The charge was
contained in a state grand jury indictment
returned in February 2007.
In
pleading guilty, Siligato admitted that
on April 8, 2005, he agreed with one or
more unindicted co-conspirators to start
a fire in a vacant dwelling located at 750
South Whitehorse Pike in Winslow Township,
Camden County. Siligato admitted that his
purpose was to promote or facilitate the
commission of the crime of aggravated arson
by destroying the vacant dwelling.
In
July 2006, Siligato was found guilty of
attempted theft by deception, conspiracy,
and witness tampering following an 11-week
jury trial on charges related to a 1998
fire at his property and related claims
he filed with Farmers Mutual Insurance Company.
Siligato was sentenced to 11 years in state
prison by Superior Court Judge Albert Garofolo
in Atlantic County for those charges.
Acting
Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi
noted that Siligato began serving the 11-year
state prison sentence in October 2011, after
the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate
Division, affirmed the defendant’s
2006 convictions.
Deputy
Attorney General Lisa Sarnoff Gochman and
Lieutenant Robert Stemmer, Detective Scott
Capone and Civil Investigator Joseph Salvatore
were assigned to the investigation. Gochman
represented the Office of the Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.
### |