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TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that former state Commerce Commission
chief of staff Lesly Devereaux was sentenced
to prison today for committing official
misconduct, theft and other crimes.
Superior
Court Judge Maryann K. Bielamowicz sentenced
Devereaux, 49, of Piscataway to 6 ½
years in state prison. Devereaux was immediately
taken into custody to begin serving her
sentence. She also was ordered to pay more
than $29,000 in restitution.
“Ms.
Devereaux exploited her high public office
to corruptly enrich herself. She then attempted
to cover her tracks by lying and falsifying
records,” said Attorney General Milgram.
“Today’s sentence should send
a strong message that official misconduct
will not be tolerated.”
In
addition, Judge Bielamowicz sentenced Devereaux’
sister, Candace Harper, 45, of Riverside,
California, to three years probation, conditioned
on a jail term of 364 days. However, the
judge suspended all but 45 days of the jail
sentence. She was ordered to serve 100 hours
of community service in New Jersey. Harper
had pleaded guilty to a charge of third-degree
tampering with public records. She also
was taken into custody immediately after
the sentencing.
Deputy
Attorneys General Robert Czepiel and Anthony
Picione prosecuted the case.
Devereaux
was found guilty on July 30, 2007 by a Mercer
County jury of second-degree official misconduct
and third-degree misapplication of government
property for misusing state employees to
run her private law practice while at the
Commerce Commission. On Oct. 26, Devereaux
pleaded guilty to two additional counts
of fourth-degree falsifying or tampering
with records for drafting two false recusal
letters purporting to exclude her from any
involvement in Commerce’s hiring of
her mother and sister as paid consultants.
In
addition, Devereaux pleaded guilty on Oct.
26 to third-degree theft by deception in
connection with a separate indictment that
charged her with welfare fraud. In pleading
guilty, she admitted that in 2000 and 2001,
prior to working at Commerce, she obtained
more than $500 in food stamps through the
Middlesex County Board of Social Services
by filing a false application that failed
to report her true income and her employment
as an attorney.
Judge
Bielamowicz sentenced Devereaux to 6 ½
years in prison on the official misconduct
charge. She sentenced Devereaux to four
years in prison on the theft charge, but
that sentence will run concurrently with
the 6 ½ year sentence, as will sentences
of 15 months in prison imposed for each
of the falsifying records charges. The misapplication
of government property offense merged by
law with the official misconduct offense,
so there was no additional sentence.
For
using her secretary at the Commerce Commission
to perform work for her private law practice,
Devereaux was ordered by Judge Bielamowicz
to pay restitution to the state equal to
25 percent of the $87,000 annual salary
of the secretary, meaning $21,750. Devereaux
was ordered to pay $1,901 in restitution
for the welfare theft, and pay back half
of the amounts paid by the Commerce Commission
to her sister and mother – $9,250
and $2,275 respectively.
As
part of the plea agreement, Devereaux previously
agreed to waive her right to appeal, to
accept disbarment as an attorney, to forfeit
public employment and to accept a lifetime
ban on public employment.
In convicting Devereaux in July 2007, the
jury found that she used her position as
chief of staff and vice president of operations
for the Commerce Commission to benefit herself.
The jury found that Devereaux misused state
personnel from February 2002 to May 2004
by having commission staff perform work
for her private legal practice while on
duty for the Commission.
Devereaux’s
sister and mother pleaded guilty on June
6, 2007 before Judge Bielamowicz. Lillian
Harper, 68, of Riverside, California, pleaded
guilty to a charge of third-degree tampering
with public records and was admitted into
the Pre-Trial Intervention program. She
was ordered to perform 50 hours of community
service, pay $2,275 in restitution and be
permanently barred from public employment
in New Jersey.
The
Office of the State Auditor, which reports
to the Office of Legislative Services, began
an audit in January 2004 at the Commerce
and Economic Development Commission. The
auditors were repeatedly rebuffed in their
requests for commission books and records
and were advised that any and all requests
for documents were to be submitted in writing
to Devereaux. In April 2004, state auditors
contacted the Division of Criminal Justice.
The investigation by the Division of Criminal
Justice determined that Candace Harper,
while living in North Carolina, was paid
$9,250 to purportedly review vendor files
and develop a database of vendors for use
by the commission. Investigators found that
the responsibilities were minimal and any
work actually performed could have been
completed by Commerce Commission staff.
The investigation determined that nine commission
checks were issued to Candace Harper. Two
of the checks were endorsed, signed and
cashed by Devereaux, and four were co-endorsed
and cashed by Devereaux. The investigation
determined Lillian Harper was paid $2,275
as an independent consultant to proof read
two commission publications which had already
been reviewed, edited and published by commission
staff.
New
Jersey State Police Detective Sgt. Myles
Cappiello, assigned to the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Unit, coordinated the
investigation, along with State Investigators
Kiersten Pentony, Edward Augustyn and Anthony
Luyber and analyst Alison Callery. Additional
investigative assistance was provided by
State Investigator Christina McCarthy of
the Division of Criminal Justice Computer
Analysis & Technology Unit and state
auditors from the
Office of Legislative Services. Assistance
was also provided by Deputy Attorneys General
Susan Kase, Hillary Horton and Natalie Drummond,
along with State Investigator Paul Marfino
of the Division of Criminal Justice.
Attorney
General Milgram and Director Paw 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 page 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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