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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that Wanda Molina, the former
Chief Judge of the Jersey City Municipal
Court, pleaded guilty today to criminal
charges for fixing parking tickets.
According
to Director Taylor, Molina, 51, of Jersey
City, pleaded guilty today to tampering
with public records or information, a third-degree
offense, and falsifying records, a fourth-degree
offense, before Superior Court Judge Harry
G. Carroll in Bergen County.
Those
charges were contained in a Dec. 11, 2008
state grand jury indictment obtained by
the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau. Under the plea agreement, the state
will recommend that she receive a sentence
of probation conditioned on her serving
up to 364 days in the county jail. Molina
resigned from her judgeship on Sept. 21,
2007, in connection with this case and will
be permanently barred from public employment.
Deputy
Attorney General Richard Queen took the
guilty plea for the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Bureau. Judge Carroll
scheduled sentencing for Molina for Aug.
27.
In
pleading guilty, Molina admitted that between
October 30, 2006 and April 2, 2007, she
took judicial action to dismiss eight parking
tickets that were issued to a close personal
companion. The Court Rules and the Code
of Judicial Conduct strictly prohibit judges
from hearing cases if they have any personal
interest in them or if anyone close to them
does. She admitted that she wrote the word
“emergency” on three of the
tickets, falsely indicating that there were
compelling circumstances to justify the
illegal parking, when in fact there were
not. In connection with her plea, Molina
will pay restitution in the amount of the
dismissed tickets.
A
separate indictment returned on July 14,
2008, charges former Jersey City Municipal
Court Administrator Virginia Pagan, 55,
of Jersey City, with second-degree official
misconduct, third-degree pattern of official
misconduct, third-degree tampering with
public records or information, and fourth-degree
falsifying records for allegedly using her
official position to access the court’s
computer record system and make entries
dismissing 215 parking tickets, carrying
potential fines in excess of $5,000, that
had been issued to her and her daughter.
The charges in that indictment are pending.
Pagan also resigned from her court position
in September 2007 after her alleged misconduct
came to light.
Hudson
County Assignment Judge Maurice J. Gallipoli
initially investigated allegations regarding
irregularities in the disposition of tickets
in Jersey City Municipal Court. He referred
the matter to the Attorney General’s
Office.
The
case was investigated by Detective Lisa
Cawley and Sgt. Lisa A. Shea of the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. Deputy
Attorney General Asha Vaghela presented
the cases to the state grand jury.
Attorney
General Dow 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 site 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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