| TRENTON
– Attorney General Stuart Rabner and
Division of Criminal Justice Director Gregory
A. Paw announced that an Essex County woman
was sentenced to prison today for assisting
a former Department of Community Affairs
senior field representative to steal more
than $866,000 from a housing and rental
assistance program designed to prevent homelessness.
“This
defendant stole public funds that were intended
for families facing financial hardship and
loss of their homes,” said Attorney
General Rabner. “That is what makes
this case of public corruption particularly
reprehensible.”
“We
have made the prosecution of public corruption
a top priority for the Division of Criminal
Justice,” said Director Paw. “We
will continue to focus our attention and
resources on cases of this type.”
Tashime
Mitchell, a/k/a Tashima Mitchell, 33, of
Irvington, was sentenced to five years in
state prison by Superior Court Judge Charles
A. Delehey in Mercer County. She also was
ordered to pay $29,000 in restitution to
the Department of Community Affairs. The
sentence followed Mitchell’s May 1
guilty plea to a charge of second-degree
bribery.
Director
Paw noted that the Department of Community
Affairs reported the suspected criminal
activity to the Division of Criminal Justice
- Special Prosecutions Bureau when program
officials uncovered questionable applications
and related transactions involving the Union
County Homelessness Prevention Program.
The DCA provided administrative resources
and investigative assistance to the Division
of Criminal Justice throughout the investigation.
“The
Homelessness Prevention Program is intended
to help some of our state's most vulnerable.
The punishment certainly fits the appalling
nature of this crime,” said Department
of Community Affairs' Commissioner Susan
Bass Levin. “It sends a strong message
that people attempting to profit from the
misfortune of others will simply not get
away with it.”
In
pleading guilty, Mitchell and co-defendant
Renita Livingston, 33, of Hillside, admitted
they assisted Robin Wheeler-Hicks, 47, of
Elizabeth, a former DCA-Union County senior
field representative, in submitting false
applications to the Homelessness Prevention
Program. Livingston pleaded guilty May 1
to second-degree conspiracy. On March 20,
Wheeler-Hicks pleaded guilty to second-degree
charges of bribery and theft by deception,
admitting she submitted at least 428 false
applications totaling $866,560 to the program.
The
Homelessness Prevention Program provides
grants to eligible individuals and families
who, through no fault of their own, are
in jeopardy of becoming homeless. It provides
money to pay rent to keep a family in a
current home, and provides applicants with
initial rent and security deposit for a
new residence if they have been evicted.
An applicant must demonstrate income sufficient
to maintain a residence after the grant
is exhausted.
Wheeler-Hicks,
as the senior field representative in Union
County, had responsibility for processing
HPP cases. It was charged that Wheeler-Hicks
used her official position to obtain pertinent
information regarding HPP candidates, which
she used to create and submit fictitious
HPP claims to DCA for payment to applicant
landlords. The fraudulent applications reported
that the applicants were temporarily homeless
due to a residential fire and included fictitious
fire reports, purportedly from the Elizabeth
Fire Department.
For
a share of the proceeds, Mitchell and Livingston
assisted Wheeler-Hicks by providing false
information for certain applications, such
as employment information, address and landlord
information, and household expense information.
It was also charged that Wheeler-Hicks accepted
money from accomplices for processing HPP
applications, and that Mitchell and Livingston
manufactured evidence and attempted to influence
the testimony of another witness.
On
Sept. 28, 2005, the Division of Criminal
Justice - Special Prosecutions Bureau obtained
guilty pleas from three individuals identified
as co-conspirators in the criminal fraud:
Carletta Smith, 31, of Somerset, a former
Certified Public Accountant, self-employed
landlord, and the owner-of-record of four
corporations that pleaded guilty to official
misconduct in the case (C&C Financial
Group LLC, CCB Investments LLC, Jonah Investment
Group LLC, and 96 Eaton Place LLC); Monica
Smith, 28, of Spotswood; and Lisa Smith
Foster, 34, of Howell.
The
guilty pleas required the defendants to
pay full restitution of $33,859 to the DCA.
At the time of the plea, Lisa Smith Foster
was admitted into PTI. Carletta Smith forfeited
her CPA license. The corporate defendants
forfeited $101,577. Monica Smith will receive
probation.
The
prosecution was coordinated by Deputy Attorney
General Anthony Picione assigned to the
Division of Criminal Justice - Special Prosecutions
Bureau. The investigation was conducted
by State Investigators Joseph Caloiaro,
Rob Feriozzi, Anthony Luyber and Kiersten
Pentony; Civil Investigator Wayne Cummings;
New Jersey State Police detectives Dustin
Lesnever, Gerald Nachurski and Gregory Shawaryn
and Analyst Alison Callery assigned to the
Division of Criminal Justice - Special Prosecutions
Bureau.
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