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TRENTON
- Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal
Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni announced
that a former state warehouse employee was
sentenced to jail today for stealing surplus
equipment from the Department of Treasury’s
First Avenue Warehouse in Hamilton.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, Dominick Mangine,
45, of Jackson, was sentenced to 364 days
in the Mercer County Jail as a condition of
two years of probation by Superior Court Judge
Gerald J. Council in Mercer County. He was
ordered to pay $24,292 in restitution, of
which he was required to pay $4,858 today.
He also was ordered to perform 50 hours of
community service.
Mangine,
who held the job of storekeeper at the warehouse,
pleaded guilty on May 28, 2008 to a charge
of third-degree pattern of official misconduct.
In pleading guilty, Mangine admitted that
he participated in thefts of scrap metal and
a computer from the warehouse. Deputy Attorney
General Anthony Picione, deputy chief of the
Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau,
prosecuted the case and handled today’s
sentencing.
Mangine
was arrested on April 10, 2008, with the supervisor
of the warehouse, David Winkler, 47, of Bordentown,
and two other employees, James Mate, 48, of
Yardville, and Thomas Sundstrom, 66, of Southampton.
A fifth worker, William Gawroski III, 33,
of Hamilton, pleaded guilty the next day to
third-degree pattern of official misconduct.
He faces probation.
Mate
pleaded guilty to second-degree official misconduct
on June 26, 2008, and awaits sentencing. The
state will recommend that he be sentenced
to three years in state prison. Each of the
defendants who pleaded guilty forfeited his
job and is responsible with his co-defendants
for full restitution for the thefts of $24,292.
Winkler
and Sundstrom were indicted on Nov. 20 and
face charges of conspiracy (2nd degree), official
misconduct (2nd degree), theft by unlawful
taking (3rd degree), and misapplication of
entrusted property and property of government
(3rd degree).
The
charges resulted from a year-long investigation
by the New Jersey State Police that commenced
when Treasury officials obtained information
that Gawroski was taking illegal payments
from a recycling company in return for helping
the company to secure more valuable equipment
in auctions of surplus state computer equipment.
The probe quickly expanded to include allegations
that employees at the warehouse were taking
home state-owned computers and that Winkler
was running a scheme in which employees took
surplus metal equipment to a non-approved
recycler, sold it for cash as scrap metal,
and split the money.
Winkler,
Gawroski, Mangine and Mate were charged with
illicitly selling more than $24,000 in scrap
metal and dividing the proceeds between July
2005 and April 2007. The surplus metal items
sold as scrap included desks, filing cabinets
and other furniture and equipment. In addition,
Winkler, Mangine and Sundstrom were charged
with assisting Gawroski to steal a computer
and related accessories from the warehouse
in December 2007.
Scrap
metal from the warehouse is supposed to go
to one recycling company that has a contract
with the state to buy it. The company credits
the state for each load and pays Treasury
by check. Gawroski, Mangine and Mate admitted
they participated in a scheme with Winkler
in which they took the scrap metal to another
recycling company in Trenton, which paid up
to several hundred dollars in cash per load
that was divided among the men.
The
investigation was conducted by Lt. Keith Dangler,
Detective Sgt. 1st Class John Cappetta and
Detective Sgt. Vincent Greene of the State
Police State Governmental Security Bureau
Investigations Unit.
The
charges against Winkler and Sundstrom are
merely accusations and they are presumed innocent
until proven guilty. Winkler is free on $25,000
bail. Sundstrom is free on $20,000 bail.
Second-degree
crimes carry a maximum sentence of 10 years
in state prison and a criminal fine of $150,000,
while third-degree crimes carry a maximum
sentence of five years in prison and a $15,000
fine.
The
Division of Criminal Justice has established
a toll-free Corruption Tipline for the public
to report corruption, financial crime and
other illegal activities: 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division Web site at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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