October 5, 2011
According to Director Taylor, the state grand jury indictment charges Sharon Caldwell, 57, of Trenton, with second-degree official misconduct and third-degree theft by deception. In her former position as a fiscal analyst for the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, Caldwell had responsibility for the disbursement of checks from a checking account for the State’s Disability Insurance program. The indictment alleges that she issued three checks from the account made payable to her landlord, which she provided to the landlord to pay rent she owed for her apartment on West State Street in Trenton: one check for $8,000 dated Jan. 28, 2009, one for $3,525.85 dated Aug. 15, 2009, and one for $7,000 dated July 23, 2010.
The unauthorized checks were discovered in 2010 by the Office of Internal Audit of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development, which referred the case to the Division of Criminal Justice. Deputy Attorney General Jim Ruberton and Detective Lynn Patrick Fitzgerald presented the case to the state grand jury for the Division of Criminal Justice Specialized Crimes Bureau.
“The public must be able to trust that state funds will be closely watched and used only for authorized purposes,” said Attorney General Dow. “In this case, I commend the Department of Labor and Workforce Development for its vigilance in detecting these improper expenditures and alerting the Division of Criminal Justice. We will aggressively prosecute officials who steal public funds.”
“We guard the public’s tax dollars carefully in this administration, and my department has a zero tolerance policy regarding anyone found misappropriating that money. I have been working closely with the Office of the Attorney General to make sure that any circumstance involving the misuse of the public’s money is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law,” said Harold J. Wirths, Commissioner of the Department of Labor and Workforce Development.
“This defendant was entrusted with access to a state checking account, but we allege that she flagrantly breached that trust by stealing from the account,” said Director Taylor.
The charge of second-degree official misconduct carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in state prison, including five years of parole ineligibility, and a $150,000 fine. Third-degree crimes carry a maximum sentence of five years in state prison and a $15,000 fine. The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The indictment is posted with this release at www.njpublicsafety.com.
The indictment was handed up to Superior Court Judge Pedro J. Jimenez Jr. in Mercer County, where the defendant will be ordered to appear in court at a later date for arraignment on the charges.
Attorney General Dow and Director Taylor noted that the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau has established a toll-free Corruption Tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities. Additionally, the public can log on to the Division of Criminal Justice web page at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing. All information received will remain confidential.
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