Global Navigation
Office of The Attorney General
The State of New Jersey Office of The Attorney General (Dept. of Law & Public Safety) The State of New Jersey NJ Home Services A to Z Departments/Agencies OAG Frequently Asked Questions
Services A to Z Departments/Agencies OAG Frequently Asked Questions
OAG Home
OAG Contact
spacer
Back to News Releases
OAG Home Attorney General's Biography
Attorney General's Biography
spacer spacer spacer
 
spacer spacer spacer
spacer spacer spacer
For Immediate Release:
For Further Information:
September 11, 2012 

Office of The Attorney General
- Jeffrey S. Chiesa, Attorney General
Division of Criminal Justice
- Stephen J. Taylor, Director

Media Inquiries-
Peter Aseltine
609-292-4791

Citizen Inquiries-

609-984-5828
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
North Bergen Public Works Superintendent Pleads Guilty
to Directing Municipal Employees to Perform Chores at
His Home While They Were Being Paid by the Township
He also had public employees assigned to work for political campaigns
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
Click to Enlarge Image
spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer

TRENTON – Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa announced that the Superintendent of Public Works for North Bergen Township pleaded guilty today to routinely using municipal employees for household chores and personal projects at his home while they were on the clock being paid by the municipality.  He frequently directed the employees to work at his home on Saturdays, when they received time-and-a-half overtime pay for their hours, and the tasks ranged from cleaning his house and swimming pool to helping build an addition.

The superintendent, James Wiley, 67, of North Bergen, also admitted that on three occasions, he had groups of public works employees assigned to perform work for a political campaign while on duty or while being paid overtime by the township, and signed and submitted fraudulent paperwork that indicated they were doing legitimate work for the Department of Public Works.

Wiley pleaded guilty to an accusation charging him with second-degree conspiracy to commit official misconduct before Superior Court Judge Joseph V. Isabella in Hudson County.  The plea agreement calls for Wiley to be sentenced to five to 10 years in state prison, the standard range for second-degree crimes.

Wiley was charged as a result of an investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.  Wiley must forfeit his job and will be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey.  He must pay restitution to the township in an amount to be determined for any wages paid to municipal employees for time spent working at his home.

Deputy Attorneys General David M. Fritch and Cynthia M. Vazquez took the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal Justice.  Judge Isabella scheduled Wiley to be sentenced on Oct. 26.

“Wiley’s abuse of power in exploiting municipal employees for his personal chores and home improvement projects is an affront to every honest taxpayer and worker,” said Attorney General Chiesa. “It takes hard work and hard-earned money for the average person to maintain a home, but Wiley, in his greed, decided to do it on the taxpayers’ dime. Beyond that, he participated in the unlawful assignment of public workers to political activities.  We won’t stand for such corruption.”

“Prosecuting public corruption is a top priority of the Division of Criminal Justice, and guilty pleas such as this one send a powerful deterrent message to those who might otherwise unlawfully use their public office for personal gain,” said Stephen J. Taylor, Director of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We expect to file additional charges in our ongoing investigation.  We urge anyone with information about official misconduct to contact our office confidentially.”   

The state’s investigation revealed that Wiley abused his authority as superintendent of the Department of Public Works (DPW) by directing that subordinate workers perform a wide range of tasks for his personal benefit at his home on Heindel Avenue in North Bergen while they were being paid by the township.  In pleading guilty, Wiley specifically admitted that between January 2008 and January 2012, he signed and submitted fraudulent timesheets to pay subordinate employees for 274 hours of labor, including 114 hours of overtime, that the employees actually spent performing personal household labor for Wiley at his home.

DPW workers were routinely assigned to work at Wiley’s house on the weekend, typically Saturday, when they received time-and-a-half overtime pay.  However, DPW workers were also sent to work at his home during regular work hours between Monday and Friday. The timesheets for the workers would falsely list work for the township, such as “yard maintenance” at the DPW complex.  Workers would regularly travel to and from Wiley’s house in DPW vehicles.

Frequently the DPW workers performed routine chores for Wiley, including housecleaning, window washing, pool maintenance, cleaning his gas grill, clearing away leaves, removing snow, and running to the store for household supplies. At other times, however, the workers were given special projects such as putting up Christmas decorations, helping to build and paint an addition to his house, and installing pavers and a hot tub.

In pleading guilty, Wiley also admitted that he had subordinate municipal employees assigned to perform work for political campaigns in Hudson County for which the employees were paid by the township.  The workers engaged in political activities such as canvassing neighborhoods, distributing campaign literature, and posting campaign signs.  Wiley specifically admitted to signing and submitting fraudulent paperwork so that workers would be paid by the township in connection with over 100 hours of labor that DPW workers provided for election campaigns on three occasions: (1) Nov. 4, 2008, when 15 DPW workers provided 60 hours of overtime labor in Bayonne in connection with a mayoral campaign; (2) May 12, 2009, when 26 DPW workers provided 26 hours of overtime labor in Jersey City in connection with a mayoral campaign; and (3) Nov. 2, 2010, when numerous DPW workers provided overtime labor in connection with a campaign for sheriff.  The state is continuing to investigate the misuse of North Bergen DPW employees to perform work for election campaigns in Hudson County, which allegedly has occurred for a number of years.

Wiley has been Superintendent of Public Works in North Bergen since 1995.  His current annual salary is approximately $122,000. 

The investigation was conducted for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau by Deputy Attorneys General Fritch and Vazquez, Detective Garrett Brown, Investigator Joseph C. Salvatore and Lt. Robert Stemmer.

Attorney General Chiesa and Director Stephen J. Taylor noted that the Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free Corruption Tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities confidentially. The public can also log on to the Division webpage at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing.

###

spacer
spacer spacer spacer
spacer
 
 
Contact OAG About OAG
OAG News OAG Frequently Asked Questions
OAG Library Employment
OAG Grants Proposed Rules
OAG History OAG Services A-Z
OAG Agencies / Programs / Units
Other News Pages Otras Noticias en Español Division of NJ State Police Division of Law News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Gaming Enforcement News
NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News

free PDF plugin

NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News
   
Contact Us | Privacy Notice | Legal Statement | Accessibility Statement
NJ Home Logo
Departmental: OAG Home | Contact OAG | About OAG | OAG News | OAG FAQs
Statewide: NJ Home | Services A to Z | Departments/Agencies | FAQs
Copyright © State of New Jersey
This page is maintained by OAG Communications. Comments/Questions: email or call 609-292-4925
OAG Home OAG Home NJ State Police News Governor's Office News Division of Highway Traffic Safety News Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Juvenile Justice Commission News Division on Civil Rights News Division of Consumer Affairs News Division of Criminal Justice News Election Law Enforcement Commission Division of Elections News Division of Gaming Enforcement News Office of Government Integrity News Click to Enlarge Image Click to Enlarge Image Click to Enlarge Graphic Click to enlarge chart Click to enlarge map