Official Misconduct

Priscilla Gilbert had testified that she helped the underprivileged in Monroe Township for personal satisfaction, not for the money. But a Gloucester County jury determined yesterday that sometime during her 10 years as township welfare director, Gilbert got greedy. Gilbert, 53, was convicted of stealing welfare funds by cashing the checks of intended recipients and pocketing the money. Police have alleged she took more than $160,000 from 1987 through May 1991. Gilbert, who earned $13,000 a year, was fired in July 1991 after a routine audit revealed she had co- endorsed numerous welfare checks, a practice an auditor described in testimony as "unusual.

The sentencing of Howard Caldwell, former head of the Camden Police Department's vice unit, was postponed yesterday, when the defense attorney said he had just learned that one of the prosecution's witnesses had a criminal record. Caldwell, 39, was convicted March 1 on one count of official misconduct in connection with a charge that he stole a car intended for city use. The charge carries a prison term of five to 10 years. The witness, Ann Gudanowski, is a clerk who handles records for abandoned cars for the city Police Department.

There was a buzz of excitement at back-to-school night Wednesday at Triton Regional High School, just loud enough to keep the whispers at bay for one more day. Torrid tales about female students and young male teachers who've left mysteriously had carried over into the new school year and the rumors were about to burst from the blue lockers that line the hallways. On Thursday, the rumors became official allegations by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, and they're even worse than anyone had imagined.

Instead of making sure prisoners were behaving behind bars, two Burlington County corrections officers were taking money to bring them alcohol, marijuana, cell phones and other items, according to charges brought by a state grand jury. James H. Dowd and Vincenzo A. Perricone smuggled contraband inside the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly for at least $200 in cash, according to the indictment announced yesterday by the state Attorney General's Office. Officers are forbidden from bringing any items from the outside to inmates, regardless of whether a fee is involved.

TWO former teachers and an ex-principal pleaded guilty Monday for their roles in a sex scandal that rocked a Camden County high school last year. The teachers at Triton Regional High School in Runnemede, Jeff Logandro and Dan Michielli, were accused of having sexual relationships with students. The principal, Catherine DePaul, was accused of not immediately reporting the relationships to police. Logandro, 32, and Michielli, 27, pleaded guilty to official misconduct; DePaul, 55, pleaded guilty to failure to report a crime.

A grand jury has indicted a Washington Township police officer on charges of tampering with records, falsifying records, and official misconduct, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday, stemming from the officer's arrest of Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D., Gloucester) in a July traffic stop. Joseph DiBuonaventura, 42, arrested Moriarty on July 31 on drunken-driving and other charges. If convicted of all charges, DiBuonaventura could face decades in prison. Moriarty said in an interview he felt vindicated by the indictment of the officer.

The former business administrator for the Somerdale Board of Education was charged yesterday with official misconduct and misappropriation of funds, authorities said. James J. Hayden, 45, of Voorhees, is accused of spending Somerdale Board of Education money for his personal use between July 2001 and May 2002. Hayden is the board secretary and school business administrator for Magnolia. He is alleged to have used the school district's debit card and checks to pay for hotel rooms for his family's vacations, car repairs for his personal vehicle, and gifts for his children.

An employee of the Cherry Hill municipal court system was charged yesterday with fixing traffic tickets for terror suspect Dritan Duka, one of the so-called Fort Dix Six, authorities said. Debra H. Benecke, 48, of Pennsauken, was charged with official misconduct and tampering with records for altering two traffic tickets for Duka, said Bill Shralow, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office. Duka, 28, is one of six men in federal custody since May 7 after being accused of plotting a paramilitary attack on Fort Dix. Cherry Hill police issued tickets to Duka on Oct. 16 for making an illegal U-turn and driving without a license.

A Camden County Jail guard was indicted yesterday on charges that he sold heroin to inmates who used it to briefly run a drug ring within the prison, authorities said. Ciro Castro, 27, of the 2800 block of Sherman Avenue, Camden, is charged with a total of 12 counts of official misconduct and distribution of heroin. According to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, Castro supplied heroin to two inmates on three occasions in June and July. On each occasion, authorities said, Castro received $1,000 at the home of the mother of one of the inmates, Luis Andino, who is also charged with possession of heroin in the indictment.

A Camden County police officer accused of taking $1,800 from a business where he moonlighted as a security guard was charged Tuesday with theft and official misconduct, authorities said. Patrolman Craig DiPatri, 33, is accused of taking a bank deposit bag filled with cash from the offices of the Berg Furniture Warehouse in Barrington early Sept. 3, Camden County Prosecutor Vincent P. Sarubbi said. DiPatri, a nine-year veteran of the Barrington Police Department, was on duty and in uniform at the time of the alleged theft.

A grand jury has indicted a Washington Township police officer on charges of tampering with records, falsifying records, and official misconduct, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday, stemming from the officer's arrest of Assemblyman Paul Moriarty (D., Gloucester) in a July traffic stop. Joseph DiBuonaventura, 42, arrested Moriarty on July 31 on drunken-driving and other charges. If convicted of all charges, DiBuonaventura could face decades in prison. Moriarty said in an interview he felt vindicated by the indictment of the officer.

By May, the Gloucester County Prosecutor's Office says, it intends to present to a grand jury the findings of its investigation of a suspended Washington Township police officer who cited Assemblyman Paul D. Moriarty (D., Gloucester) for drunken driving last summer. Officer Joseph DiBuonaventura, a 17-year veteran of the force, said he had stopped Moriarty on the Black Horse Pike in Turnersville after the legislator cut him off July 31. He said he smelled alcohol on Moriarty's breath and ordered him out of the car. Moriarty, who was also charged with refusing to take a breath test and failure to maintain a lane, contended that he was driving lawfully in the right lane and did not change lanes without signaling.

TWO former teachers and an ex-principal pleaded guilty Monday for their roles in a sex scandal that rocked a Camden County high school last year. The teachers at Triton Regional High School in Runnemede, Jeff Logandro and Dan Michielli, were accused of having sexual relationships with students. The principal, Catherine DePaul, was accused of not immediately reporting the relationships to police. Logandro, 32, and Michielli, 27, pleaded guilty to official misconduct; DePaul, 55, pleaded guilty to failure to report a crime.

There was a buzz of excitement at back-to-school night Wednesday at Triton Regional High School, just loud enough to keep the whispers at bay for one more day. Torrid tales about female students and young male teachers who've left mysteriously had carried over into the new school year and the rumors were about to burst from the blue lockers that line the hallways. On Thursday, the rumors became official allegations by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, and they're even worse than anyone had imagined.

This story has been updated. THE WOMEN on Broadway in Camden hustle for their hits every day, dodging the cops, demented tricks and the deadly dose that'll leave them cold and blue in a trash-filled basement. One prostitute named Angelina, according to allegations laid out in a letter written last month by the Camden County Prosecutor's Office, met a cop she didn't have to dodge, though - an officer who had access to heroin and was allegedly willing to trade it for sex for the past 16 months.

FLEMINGTON, N.J. - A former caseworker and a private caretaker were sentenced Thursday to three years in prison for neglecting three women. Former caseworker Bridget Grimes and home provider Debra Sloan pleaded guilty last year, avoiding trials. Grimes, 55, pleaded guilty to official misconduct, neglect of a disabled person, and theft. Sloan, 57, pleaded guilty to neglect of a disabled person and theft. Sloan had a $51,000-per-year contract to care for Erin Germaine, Tara O'Leary, and Lydia Joy Perry of Hunterdon County's Alexandria Township.

A former local administrator of New Jersey's Home Energy Assistance Program has been sentenced to four years in prison for defrauding the program by filing false applications for benefits. Denise Nicole Johnson, 37, of Paulsboro, pleaded guilty in January to official misconduct. She was sentenced Friday in Superior Court in Woodbury. Johnson also was ordered to pay full restitution of nearly $23,000 and is permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey. Prosecutors say Johnson filed nine false applications while employed in the Paulsboro office of Tri-County Community Action.

Welcome to Wildwood, where there are funhouses, roller coasters and the wildest ride of them all: City Hall. Mayor Gary DeMarzo, for instance, was surprisingly calm yesterday after being indicted by a Cape May County grand jury for alleged official misconduct. "The amusements shut down in the winter here, but the amusements stay hot in the political arena," he said yesterday afternoon. The charges stem from a drawn-out, conflict-of-interest case against DeMarzo in 2009 and 2010, in which two elected officials questioned whether he could remain a police officer while holding office.

A suspended Camden police officer, already indicted for allegedly harassing his ex-wife, has been arrested again, authorities said. Shane Sampson, 41, of Williamstown, was taken into custody at his home Thursday and charged with official misconduct after improperly requesting private motor-vehicle records of people associated with his former wife, authorities said. The record checks, conducted on Oct. 20 and Nov. 4, were not done for police business, authorities said. Sampson has been suspended from the force without pay since April after a 2009 incident in which he allegedly used his position as a police officer to have his ex-wife, Nooshin Sampson, wrongly arrested over a child-custody dispute.

A Camden police officer was charged Friday with filing a false report about corrections officers' failure to come to her aid when a suspect attempted to flee, authorities said. Maritza Cortes, 35, of Williamstown, was charged with official misconduct and lying to authorities, according to the Camden County Prosecutor's Office and Camden police. She is on unpaid suspension pending the outcome of the charges, officials said. A Camden County jail security video contradicted Cortes' claim.