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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that an administrator at the H.B. Wilson Elementary
School, a teacher at the school, and the former
principal at the U.S. Wiggins Elementary School
were sentenced today for attempting to steal
school funds.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Patricia Johnson,
59, of Atco, former school facilitator at
the H.B. Wilson School, was sentenced to three
years of probation and 100 hours of community
service by Superior Court Judge Stephen M.
Holden in Camden County.
Judge
Holden sentenced Juanita Worthy, 61, of Evesham,
the former principal of the U.S. Wiggins School,
to five years of probation and 300 hours of
community service, and sentenced her daughter,
Keah Worthy, 33, of Evesham, formerly a teacher
at the H.B. Wilson School, to two years of
probation and 100 hours of community service.
All
three defendants pleaded guilty last year
to third-degree attempted theft by deception
for attempting to bill the Camden Board of
Education $25,000 in extra wages for 14 members
of School Leadership Councils for eight meetings
that never took place. A fourth defendant,
Michael Hailey, 67, of Delran, the former
principal at the H.B. Wilson School, also
pleaded guilty to attempted theft in that
scheme. Hailey is scheduled to be sentenced
next Friday, Feb. 13.
In
addition, Hailey and Johnson pleaded guilty
to stealing $14,000 from students and teachers
by deceiving them into paying for field trips
that were paid for by the district. Hailey
pleaded guilty to second-degree official misconduct,
and Johnson pleaded guilty to second-degree
conspiracy.
Deputy
Attorneys General Susan Kase and Vincent J.
Militello prosecuted the case and handled
today’s sentencing hearing for the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.
In
the School Leadership Council scheme, the
four defendants pressured teachers from the
Wilson and Wiggins schools to sign blank attendance
sheets for meetings of each school’s
School Leadership Council, an advisory group
of school stakeholders that includes teachers,
administrative staff and community representatives.
The school board never paid for the School
Leadership Council meetings because it discovered
they had not been held.
Attorney
General Milgram thanked Superintendent Rick
Fuentes and the State Police Official Corruption
Unit for leading the investigation. She credited
Sgt. Gary D. Sandes, who led the investigation,
Detective Gregory Shawaryn and Lt. Gerard
A. McHugh of the State Police, and State Investigator
Anthony Luyber of the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau.
Attorney
General Milgram noted that the Division of
Criminal Justice has established a statewide
Corruption Tipline: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division’s 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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