TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a former Little Egg Harbor
fire commissioner pleaded guilty today to
official misconduct for stealing raffle
ticket proceeds. In addition, a second township
fire commissioner was sentenced today in
an unrelated theft case. A third commissioner
was sentenced on Jan. 18.
According
to Director Paw, Woodrow Nelson Jr., 50,
of Absecon, pleaded guilty before Superior
Court Judge James N. Citta in Ocean County
to official misconduct, a charge contained
in a July 31, 2007 state grand jury indictment.
In
pleading guilty, Nelson admitted that he
used his position as a fire commissioner
for Little Egg Harbor Township Fire District
No. 2 to steal $1,640 in proceeds of raffle
tickets meant to benefit the Mystic Island
Volunteer Fire Company. Nelson admitted
that rather than turning the money over
to the fire company, he used it for his
personal benefit.
In
an unrelated case, a second former commissioner
for Fire District No. 2, Leroy Kaufman,
66, was sentenced today by Judge Citta to
serve three years probation and pay $500
auto theft fine. Kaufman, who also is a
former member of the Mystic Island Volunteer
Fire Company, was ordered to forfeit his
position as a commissioner and be permanently
barred from holding public office in New
Jersey. The sentence is pursuant to Kaufman’s
Oct. 1 guilty plea to theft.
In
a prosecution related to Kaufman’s,
Edward A. “Tony” Kluver, 48,
– another former commissioner for
Little Egg Harbor Township Fire District
No. 2 and former chief of the Mystic Island
Volunteer Fire Company – was sentenced
on Jan. 18 to three years in state prison
by Judge Citta. Kluver also was ordered
to forfeit his position as a commissioner
and be permanently barred from holding public
office in New Jersey. Kluver pleaded guilty
on Oct. 18 to official misconduct.
An investigation by the Little Egg Harbor
Police Department and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s
Office determined that in early 2002, Kaufman
and Kluver used their official positions
as commissioners to sign over to each other
two trucks that were owned by the fire district.
In
pleading guilty, Kaufman admitted that he
took title to a 1993 Chevrolet Blazer owned
by the fire district. Similarly, Kluver
admitted that he took title to a 1996 Dodge
Ram 1500 pickup truck owned by the fire
district. Each man re-registered the truck
in his name through the Motor Vehicle Commission,
claiming he paid $250 for it. In fact, no
payment was made for either truck. The truck
Kluver stole was worth more than $10,000.
Nelson
is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Citta
on June 27.
Attorney General Milgram credited the Little
Egg Harbor Police Department and Ocean County
Prosecutor’s Office with investigating
the Kluver and Kaufman case. The Ocean County
Prosecutor’s Office, along with the
Division of Criminal Justice, also investigated
the Nelson case. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s
Office obtained a county grand jury indictment
charging Kluver and Kaufman in December
2006. The case was subsequently transferred
to the Attorney General’s Office.
The Division of Criminal Justice obtained
the indictment against Nelson. State Investigator
Kim Husband coordinated the investigation
for the Division of Criminal Justice. Deputy
Attorney General Erik Daab has handled each
of the cases for the Division of Criminal
Justice - Corruption Bureau.
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