2006
Annual Report

Stuart Rabner, Attorney General of New Jersey

Dear Governor Corzine,
members of the State Legislature
and citizens of New Jersey:

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Through its unique, dual role as the state’s chief law enforcement agency and primary
legal advisor to state government, the Department of Law and Public Safety touches the lives
of virtually all New Jersey citizens.
Staffed by approximately 9,500 employees working in 10 divisions, the Department has
a diverse and vital mission that includes responsibility for protecting communities,
enforcing criminal and civil laws, defending state statutes and providing legal representation
to state agencies.
In 2006, the Department pursued its mission on many fronts, with highlights including
the launch of a comprehensive, statewide effort to reduce violent street gang activity and
related drug trafficking, the use of technology to create state-of-the-art disaster management
systems, and a vigorous campaign to identify and prosecute public corruption.
Among the significant gains for state law enforcement in 2006 was the “Nine Trey”
sweep, a major investigative attack on gang activity. State Police, working in cooperation
with local and federal authorities, arrested more than 60 members of the so-called “Nine
Trey” gang, a violent subset of the Bloods operating in cities throughout New Jersey. The
Nine Trey sweep was the largest single gang sweep operation in state law enforcement
history, and was the culmination of an 11-month investigation. As a result of the effort,
members and associates of the Nine Trey gang were charged with conspiracy, extortion, drug
dealing and weapons traffic. Meanwhile, through a $750,000 state appropriation, our antigun-violence initiative Operation Ceasefire continued to grow in 2006. Operation Ceasefire
is a collaborative effort among law enforcement, community groups, and prosecutors to
directly confront the problem of gun violence by stopping the next shooting. By mid-2007,
we anticipate that the program will be fully operational in Newark/Irvington, Camden,
Paterson, Trenton and Plainfield.
Among the Department’s noteworthy public corruption cases in 2006 was Operation
Slapshot, an investigation into illegal sports gambling by the Division of Criminal Justice
and State Police that resulted in charges filed against a veteran New Jersey State Trooper, a
former Philadelphia Flyers hockey player, and a resident of Gloucester County. The State
Trooper, James Harney, ultimately resigned his position and pleaded guilty in August 2006
to gambling-related criminal charges.

The Gloucester county resident, James Ulmer, pleaded guilty to criminal charges in
December 2006. As of year’s end, Slapshot-related criminal charges remained pending
against former Philadelphia Flyers hockey star Rick Tocchet. Investigators found that,
during one 40-day period alone, the Philadelphia-South-Jersey betting ring took in $1.7
million in illegal sports wagers.
The Division of Criminal Justice also prosecuted a former official of the New Jersey
Department of Community Affairs in 2006 for allegedly stealing hundreds of thousands of
dollars from the Union County Homelessness Prevention Program. The Prevention Program
makes rent money available to eligible persons and families to help them avoid
homelessness. Former program field representative Robin Wheeler Hicks pleaded guilty in
March 2006 to bribery and theft charges, acknowledging that she submitted at least 428 false
applications to the program totaling $866,560. Eight other people and four corporations
have also pleaded guilty in the case.
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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety
In another widely-reported public corruption case in 2006, Attorney General Stuart
Rabner announced the indictment of former Carney’s Point Township (Salem County) Mayor
John “Mack” Lake on charges of official misconduct and bribery. Lake was charged in the
indictment with offering a political opponent municipal government jobs in return for the
opponent dropping his campaign for election to the township committee.
Meanwhile, work continued toward creating a new, state-of-the-art Regional Operations
and Intelligence Center (ROIC) in 2006. Referred to as “The Rock,” the Regional Operations
and Intelligence Center is located on the site of State Police Division Headquarters and will
cost approximately $28 million – all of it state funding. Managed by the New Jersey State
Police, the ROIC features state-of-the-art information technology and will serve as the state’s
official Emergency Operations Center when there is a natural disaster, an elevated homeland
security threat level or other significant emergency. The ROIC is a disaster response hub for
the future – a facility that can best inform decision-makers who are dealing with emergencies
related to all types of hazard, from natural disaster to terrorist attack to flu pandemic and
beyond. The ROIC also serves as a law enforcement intelligence data hub serving the state’s
anti-gang and anti-gun-violence efforts.
As of year’s end, the New Jersey Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor (OIFP) had
obtained 175 criminal convictions, and OIFP prosecutions had resulted in the sentencing of
18 defendants to state prison. Total criminal fines and penalties imposed as a result of OIFP
prosecutions in 2006 topped $124,000 for the year, and civil fines and penalties relative to
Medicaid-fraud-related cases totaled approximately $848,000. In one auto fraud case, the
OIFP obtained an indictment charging a Pennsylvania man with multiple criminal counts
related to the sale of stolen automobiles. Overall, the investigation uncovered a conspiracy
to steal $1 million or more through vehicle thefts and phony insurance company claims. If
convicted, defendant Arthur Lipinski of Bethlehem, Pa., faces up to 10 years in state prison.
As of year’s end, the investigation was continuing.
The Department also acted to protect the environment in 2006 through a variety of
criminal prosecutions and civil lawsuits.
On the criminal front, innovative use of New Jersey’s criminal assault statute by the
Department resulted in a guilty plea to assault charges by the exterminating firm Terminex
International, and an agreement by the company to pay $300,000 to the state’s School
Integrated Pest Management Program. (The program is a legislatively-mandated effort aimed at
reducing or eliminating pesticide use in school settings. ) Terminex pleaded guilty to assault in
connection with a botched cocoa bean fumigation effort at a warehouse in Pennsauken,
Camden County. State investigators who reviewed the incident found that the fumigation
represented a gross misapplication of the chemical compound methyl bromide, and that all
safety requirements for protective equipment and air testing had been ignored. Terminex
agreed to pay the state $80 million as part of a civil settlement related to the fumigation
mishap. The Department’s Division of Law was a participant in those settlement negotiations.
In another environmental prosecution by the Division of Criminal Justice, two managers
for United Water Toms River Inc., George Flegal and Richard Ottens Jr., were indicted in 2006
on charges of tampering with public records and falsifying records for allegedly manipulating a
water source during water quality testing. The two defendants are accused of trying to conceal
the actual level of contaminants in the drinking water supplied by United Water.
Civilly, actions by the Division of Law in 2006 recovered a total of $10.8 million in past
environmental cleanup costs, and more than $1.2 million in natural resource damages for
the year. In addition, the Division played a significant role in a series of multi-state lawsuits
challenging the federal Environmental Protection Agency’s recent weakening of federal
Clean Air Act regulations, and engaged in litigation to challenge EPA’s attempt to exempt
power plants from stringent controls on potentially harmful mercury emissions.
Meanwhile, the Division of Consumer Affairs continued to vigorously enforce the state’s
consumer protection laws in 2006 while also continuing its outreach efforts aimed at
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helping consumers – particularly senior citizens, who are a frequent target of fraud — to
avoid being victimized by unscrupulous contractors, phony sales pitches, too-good-to-betrue investment opportunities and other scams. Among other significant actions, the
Division filed lawsuits against two major drugstore retail chains — Rite Aid and Duane
Reade — alleging that both charged more than the posted price for certain products, and
that both sold products that were past the manufacturer’s expiration date, including infant
formula, baby food and non-prescription drugs.
The Division on Civil Rights demonstrated its ongoing commitment to combating
discrimination – and its agility in adjusting to changing societal trends – by prosecuting
several cases in 2006 in which landlords had advertised their intention to discriminate via
the Internet, then reiterated their discriminatory policies while speaking directly with stateemployed “testers.” In all but one case, landlords who were prosecuted had advertised their
refusal to rent to children and/or would-be tenants using federal Section 8 rental assistance
via a popular Internet site, www.Craigslist.org.
These are just a sampling of the Department of Law and Public Safety’s keynote actions and
initiatives for 2006. In the pages that follow, there is much more to learn about the Department’s
Divisions of Alcoholic Beverage Control, Civil Rights, Consumer Affairs, Criminal Justice,
Elections, Gaming Enforcement, Highway Traffic Safety, Law and State Police, as well as the New
Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission and the New Jersey Racing Commission.
Through enforcement actions, litigation, legal advice, regulatory oversight, policy
initiatives, grants to local jurisdictions, awareness forums and other outreach, each of these
agencies served to improve the quality of life of New Jersey residents in 2006.
Dovetailing with extensive and varied efforts to protect New Jersey residents in 2006
was a commitment by the Attorney General to keep them as informed as possible regarding
Law-and-Public-Safety-related developments by making the Department’s Internet Web
pages as user-friendly as possible.
Extensive planning went into a ground-up redesign of the OAG Web site that began in
early 2006 and continued throughout the year. Careful attention was given to “transparency”
between the Department’s various divisions and commissions while preserving their unique
identities. The new design employed consistent and clear navigation from one division to
another. As a result, each division became only a “click” away, since the new design displayed
a list of every division on each page. The new design was “modular,” allowing divisions to
easily promote and trade space for important programs or upcoming events in much the same
way that advertising space would work on a commercial Web site. First out of the gate with
redesigns in 2006 were the top-level OAG pages, as well as pages devoted to the Division of
Criminal Justice, the Help America Vote Act, and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
The balance of the Department’s divisional Web page redesigns were to debut in 2007.
New Jersey is a heavily-traveled “corridor” state, a center for international shipping and
air travel, a hub for education, industry and commerce, and a global destination for tourism
and legalized gaming. Moreover, New Jersey is home to more than 8 million people, and its
population is among the most diverse in the nation.
Protecting a state as complex and multi-faceted as New Jersey is a significant challenge,
but the Department of Law and Public Safety remains committed to meeting that challenge,
today and in the future.

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Stuart Rabner
Attorney General

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

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Table of Contents
Division of Criminal Justice .......................................................... 6
Division of State Police ................................................................ 10
Division of Law ........................................................................... 14

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Division on Civil Rights .............................................................. 18
Division of Comsumer Affairs .................................................... 22
Division of Gaming Enforcement ............................................... 26
Racing Commission .................................................................... 30
Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control ...................................... 34
Division of Highway Traffic Safety ............................................... 38
Juvenile Justice Commission ....................................................... 42
Division of Elections ....................................................................46

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division of
Criminal Justice
New Jersey’s unified, integrated system of law enforcement is unique in the nation. The
Criminal Justice Act of 1970 designated the Attorney General as the chief law enforcement
officer of the state. The Division of Criminal Justice, on behalf of the Attorney General, is
charged with responsibility to enforce the criminal laws of the state and serve a variety of
functions pertaining to the administration of criminal justice. It is the goal of the Division to
help coordinate law enforcement efforts and resources at all levels – state, county and municipal – to ensure the safety and security of all New Jersey citizens.

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Division of Criminal Justice

Key Initiatives
Division Reorganization —
At the close of 2006, Attorney General
Rabner and Director Gregory A. Paw announced a reorganization of the Division of
Criminal Justice to direct greater resources to
two top priorities: public corruption and
gangs. The reorganization, which allows
more flexibility in assigning investigators and
attorneys, reflects strategies initiated in 2006
to focus efforts on those complex, labor-intensive cases. The reorganization consolidated 21 units into seven. In particular, 14
smaller trial units were consolidated into
three major crime-fighting groups: Corruption, Gangs/Organized Crime, and Major
White Collar Crimes. Three other units – the
Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, Appeals, and Prosecutors Supervision – remained in existing form, while a new Fiscal
Oversight unit for Schools Construction Corporation matters absorbed much of the
former Office of Government Integrity. The
reorganized major crimes section consolidated eight different sections that had been
dealing with white collar and financial
crimes, including the environmental crimes
bureau, computer crimes, money laundering
and labor offenses.

Operation Slapshot/Corrupt
Trooper Prosecution—
As the result of an investigation by the
State Police and Division of Criminal Justice
into a multi-million dollar illegal sports
bookmaking operation, veteran State Trooper
James Harney was forced to resign and
pleaded guilty on August 3, 2006 to conspiracy, official misconduct and promoting
gambling. Another participant, James A.
Ulmer of Swedesboro, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling on Dec. 1,
2006. Charges remained pending against
former Philadelphia Flyers player Rick
Tocchet. Investigators found that during one
40-day period alone, the betting ring took in
more than 1,000 bets totaling $1.7 million.

Other Public Corruption
Prosecutions—
The Division charged 22 other public officials with crimes in 2006 for alleged corrupt
activities, including bribery, theft of public
funds and selling driver’s licenses and other
official forms of identification to unauthorized persons. In November, Attorney General Rabner announced the indictment of
former Carney’s Point Mayor John “Mack”
Lake on charges of official misconduct and
bribery for allegedly offering municipal jobs
to a political opponent on the condition that
the opponent drop out of the race for township committee. In an unrelated case, the Division successfully prosecuted Robin
Wheeler-Hicks, a former senior field representative for the Department of Community
Affairs, for allegedly stealing hundreds of
thousands of dollars from the Union County
Homelessness Prevention Program. The program provides rent money to eligible individuals and families to help them avoid
homelessness. Wheeler-Hicks pleaded guilty
in March 2006 to bribery and theft charges,
admitting she submitted at least 428 false applications to the program totaling $866,560.
Eight other people and four corporations ha
The Division also obtained indictments in
2006 against the director of the state Division
of Taxation, the deputy director and four other
state managers on charges related to their alleged acceptance of thousands of dollars worth
of illegal gifts from a vendor, including dinners, entertainment, golf outings and spa
treatments. The gifts were provided by officers of OSI Collection Services Inc., a company contracted by the State to collect unpaid
taxes. Also indicted were a former OSI sales director who managed the state contracts and a
former OSI vice president for sales.

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Fighting Gangs—
In July 2006, the Division of Criminal
Justice and the State Police, working in cooperation with local and federal authorities, carried out the largest single gang sweep in state
law enforcement history, arresting more than
60 members of the Nine Trey street gang.
“Operation Nine Connect” targeted top leaders of Nine Trey, which has been identified as
the most violent set of the Bloods operating
in New Jersey. The gang members were
charged with racketeering, extortion and
drug and weapons trafficking. In a related
development, the State Police and Division of
Criminal Justice arrested Atlantic City recording studio owner John “Johnny Hooks” Abbey
in November 2006 on charges of first-degree
racketeering conspiracy for allegedly laundering more than $100,000 for Nine Trey. The arrest marked a significant break in unraveling
how Nine Trey funds its illegal operations.
Also, through a $750,000 state appropriation, the anti-gun-violence initiative
Operation Ceasefire continued to grow in
2006. Operation Ceasefire is a collaborative
effort among law enforcement, community
groups, and prosecutors to directly confront
the problem of gun violence – much of
which is gang-related — by stopping the
next shooting. By mid-2007, it is anticipated that the program will be fully operational in Newark/Irvington, Camden,
Paterson, Trenton and Plainfield.

Office of Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor—
In 2006, OIFP charged 220 defendants and
sent defendants to jail for a total of 81 years.
Indictments were up 30 percent from 2005,
and accusations were up 25 percent. OIFP obtained restitution orders totaling nearly $35
million and imposed 1,263 civil sanctions.
OIFP secured a major victory in a New Jersey
Supreme Court decision that reversed the
lower courts and held that the burden of proof
in civil insurance fraud actions is the preponderance of the evidence standard, not the
higher clear and convincing standard.
OIFP dismantled several large auto theft
rings in 2006, some of which operated out
of car dealerships and solicited owners to
turn over cars and file false theft claims in
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“give ups.” One case involved the illegal
duplication of ignition keys and the fencing
of stolen cars on eBay. OIFP recovered
more than 150 stolen high-end vehicles
worth more than $3 million.
In other high-profile cases, OIFP convicted
former Camden police officer Jerome
Bollettieri at trial on charges he sold police accident reports to a retired Camden officer so
runners could illegally solicit individuals for
chiropractic treatments. In another OIFP trial
victory, former pharmacy manager Verona
Boodram and former pharmacy technician
Alpha Bangoura were convicted of enticing
HIV/AIDS patients to sell their medications
back to Ojah Pharmacy in East Orange so the
defendants could fraudulently bill Medicaid
for prescriptions never dispensed. Boodram
was sentenced to five years in prison, and
Bangoura to six and one-half years.

Other Significant
Division Cases
Rosa Victoria Rivera of Lyndhurst, her
boyfriend, John Arturo Perez Silva, and her
son, Wilson Armondo Pinos Rivera, were arrested in December 2006 and charged with
stealing $827,000 by filing 540 fraudulent
state tax returns.
Mack Barden of Paterson was indicted in
July 2006 on charges that he stole $210,000 by
filing fraudulent state tax refund and homestead rebate claims. He pleaded guilty to second-degree theft by deception.
New Africa Day Care Center Inc., formerly located on South Orange Avenue in
Newark; its executive director, Muslimah
Suluki of College Park, Georgia; her son,
Robert Parish of Neptune; and her ex-husband, Mahdi Suluki were indicted in June
2006 on theft and other charges for allegedly
diverting more than $200,000 in state funding from the day care center for personal use.
Frances Portlock, the former director of
operations for the South Amboy Housing Authority, and Colleen Middleton, the former
Section Eight coordinator for the Old Bridge

Division of Criminal Justice
Township Housing Authority pleaded guilty to
official misconduct in December 2006 for
stealing a total of $91,000 from two publicly
funded rental assistance programs. Each
woman was sentenced to three years in prison.
Two former clerks at the Morristown
Motor Vehicle Commission agency, Tressa
V. Schumacher and Trucinder “Trudy” Clark,
pleaded guilty in April 2006 to conspiracy to
commit official misconduct for selling driver’s
licenses to unauthorized persons. Each
woman was sentenced to five years in prison.
Former Newark police officer Brandy
Johnson pleaded guilty in September 2006 to
selling cocaine and hindering law enforcement
efforts to arrest her boyfriend, who also was
dealing narcotics. She was sentenced to seven
years in state prison.
Charles “Black” Hamilton of Irvington,
the former leader of a violent heroin cartel
operating in Mercer and Essex counties, was
convicted at trial in October 2006 of first-degree charges of conspiracy, racketeering and
drug distribution. In related cases involving
the cartel, Robert Cashwell of Elizabeth was
sentenced to 10 years in prison after pleading
guilty to first-degree distribution of heroin,
and Akeem Blue of Trenton was sentenced to
17 years in prison after pleading guilty to
possession of heroin with intent to distribute
and additional charges filed by the Mercer
County Prosecutor’s Office.
In October 2006, Diane M. Oakley of
Cream Ridge was convicted at trial of attempted murder and conspiracy, both in the
first degree, for attempting to hire an undercover state trooper as a hit man to kill her
ex-husband. She was sentenced to 10 years
in state prison.
Six North Jersey men and one Pennsylvania man were indicted in January 2006 on
charges they operated a multi-state coupon redemption fraud scheme that netted $580,000
in illegal profits. All of the defendants pleaded
guilty to theft by deception.
Four family members from Point Pleasant
Beach were sentenced to state prison in 2006
for illegally obtaining hundreds of thousands
of dollars in cash and luxury merchandise

through various mortgage, real estate, bank
fraud and identity theft schemes. The family
members used Atlantic City casinos to launder their illegal proceeds. The defendants
were sentenced as follows: Robert Issa was
sentenced in May to 13 years in prison; Roger
Issa was sentenced in May to 10 years;
Antwan Issa was sentenced in June to eight
and one-half years; and Rita Issa was sentenced in July to three years.
A joint investigation by the Division of
Criminal Justice - Environmental Crimes Bureau and the New Jersey DEP Pesticide Control Program led to a guilty plea in October
2006 from Terminix International to a criminal charge of assault related to a botched cocoa-bean fumigation that exposed nine employees in a Pennsauken warehouse to the
highly toxic pesticide methyl bromide in
2004. Under the plea agreement, Terminix
agreed to pay $300,000 to the School Integrated
Pest Management Program, a legislatively mandated program to train those responsible for
pest management in public and private schools
across New Jersey how to reduce or eliminate
pesticide use in compliance with state law to
avoid exposing students and staff.
Two managers for United Water Toms
River Inc., George Flegal and Richard Ottens
Jr., were indicted in June 2006 on charges of
tampering with public records and falsifying
records for allegedly manipulating a water
source during water quality testing in order to
conceal the actual level of contaminants in
the drinking water they supplied.

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division of
State Police
Founded in 1921, the New Jersey State Police is a diverse agency with a broad-based and
evolving law enforcement mission. The State Police is charged with ensuring the safety of the
general public by providing and maintaining statewide police services including those related
to homeland security, general highway and traffic safety, criminal investigation and enforcement, intelligence gathering, forensic science and laboratory services, emergency medical
transport, disaster management, support of local law enforcement efforts and maintenance of
criminal records and identification systems. As a means of most efficiently carrying out its
mission, the State Police is organized into three branches – Administrative, Homeland Security
and Investigations. The Investigations Unit has been segmented into three Organized Crime
Control Bureaus – each made up of a Street Gang Unit, Drug Trafficking Unit and Organized
Crime Unit. These three anti-crime bureaus employ what is known as an Intelligence-Led
Policing Model (ILP) — to more effectively target official corruption, illegal drug distribution
and violent street gang activity throughout New Jersey. More information on the State Police
is available at www.njsp.org.

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Division of State Police

Investigations
Branch Highlights
Major Sweep of
‘Nine Trey’ Gang—
In 2006 the State Police, working in cooperation with local and federal authorities,
arrested more than 60 members of the Nine
Trey street gang, a violent subset of the
Bloods operating in cities throughout New
Jersey. The Nine Trey sweep was the largest
single gang sweep operation in state law enforcement history, and was the culmination
of an 11-month investigation. As a result of
the effort, members and associates of the
Nine Trey gang were charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit murder, extortion,
drug dealing and weapons offenses. In a related development, State Police arrested Atlantic-City-based recording studio owner John
“Johnny Hooks” Abbey in November 2006 on
charges of first-degree racketeering conspiracy
for allegedly laundering more than $100,000
in money for the Nine Trey gang. The arrest
marked a significant break in unraveling how
Nine Trey funds its illegal operations.

Expansion of
Operation Ceasefire—
Through a $750,000 state appropriation,
the multi-agency, anti-violence effort known
as Operation Ceasefire began expanding in
2006 from three cities – Newark, Irvington
and Camden — to several other urban centers.
The newest Operation Ceasefire sites include
Asbury Park, Atlantic City, Elizabeth, Jersey
City, Lakewood, New Brunswick, Paterson,
Plainfield, Trenton and Vineland/Millville.
State Police detectives were an integral part
of the growing Operation Ceasefire effort in
2006, and will remain so in the future. Operation Ceasefire is focused on solving gunrelated crimes, reducing street violence related to gang activity, cutting off the flow of
illegal guns into New Jersey’s communities,
and keeping those weapons from reaching
the streets.

Operation Slapshot—
As the result of a cooperative investigation by the State Police and Division of
Criminal Justice into a multi-million-dollar illegal sports gambling ring, veteran New Jersey State Trooper James Harney was forced to
resign in 2006. Former Trooper Harney subsequently pleaded guilty, in August 2006, to
charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and
promoting gambling. Another defendant, James
A. Ulmer of Swedesboro, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and promoting gambling in December
2006. Charges remained pending against former
Philadelphia Flyers hockey player Rick Tocchet.
Investigators found that during one 40-day period alone, the betting ring took in more than
1,000 bets totaling $1.7 million. While executing a related search warrant at Trooper
Harney’s home, investigators seized six
plasma televisions, 32 high-end watches, a
laptop computer, voluminous gambling
records and more than $14,000 in cash.

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College Student Suspicious
Death Investigation—
State Police devoted more than 300
Troopers and more than 100 recruits from
two separate State Police training academy
classes to investigating the death of 19-yearold John Fiocco, a student at The College of
New Jersey who disappeared from a campus
dormitory in March 2006. As part of the investigation, State Police led an exhaustive
landfill search in Tullytown , Pa. resulting in
the discovery of Fiocco’s body amidst nearly
15,000 cubic yards of refuse. The landfill
search had been triggered by discovery of
blood evidence in a trash dumpster at
Fiocco’s TCNJ dormitory. Although investigation determined that the victim had at one
point been in the dumpster, the cause and
manner of Fiocco’s death has not been determined, and the investigation continues.

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

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Participation in Operation Falcon/Operation S.A.F.E. Guard—

Clement Bilski /Operation
Riptide Investigation—

During 2006 the State Police Fugitive
Unit — working as members of the New
York/New Jersey Fugitive Task Force — participated in the U.S. Marshal Service’s “Operation Falcon III” sweep of violent criminals
and sex offenders who had failed to register
as required by law. The effort spanned a full
week and resulted in the arrest of more than
500 people. Members of the State Police Fugitive Unit also conducted Operation S.A.F.E.
Guard (Sexual Assailant Fugitive Enforcement) in 2006, which focuses on locating and
arresting sex offenders wanted by county
agencies for failing to register. Operation
S.A.F.E. Guard began in Union County, and
will continue until all 21 counties have been
canvassed. In 2006, the effort resulted in the
arrest of 38 wanted sex offenders.
Operation Ninja (Phase II) : State Police
detectives, working in conjunction with the
Division of Criminal Justice, developed cases
against several new suspects as a second
phase of Operation Ninja – an investigation
targeting the theft and illegal resale of motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles and autos — continued in 2006. Launched two years ago, Operation Ninja focused on those involved with
stealing, possessing, titling and falsely
“stamping” motorcycles, ATVs and other vehicles. In December 2006, detectives from the
State Police auto unit arrested Gabriel Evans
and Jeffrey Morgan on charges related to the
theft of motorcycles and titling of same. Not
long afterward, additional members of the alleged theft ring were taken into custody by
State Police including Gregory Kellum, Angel
Carrion III and Tyrone Sapp. Suspects
Kellum and Carrion were arrested at their
homes, while Sapp was taken into custody at
East Jersey State Prison, where he was scheduled for release after serving an unrelated
prison term. Sapp was released to State Police
detectives who promptly transported him to
the Burlington County Jail to await adjudication of his new criminal charges – theft and
receiving stolen property.

Members of the State Police Digital
Technology Investigations Unit spearheaded
several significant child pornography investigations in 2006 including one that resulted
in the arrest of self-employed carpenter
Clement Bilski. In April 2006, a search of
Bilski’s Ocean Township home and subsequent analysis of confiscated computer media revealed images of Bilski sexually assaulting female children ranging in age from
15 months to seven years. The investigation
also determined that Bilski had installed
clandestine cameras in the bedrooms and
bathrooms of several residences belonging to
carpentry customers in Ocean and
Monmouth counties. Bilski was charged
with aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child,
creating child pornography, voyeurism and
possession and distribution of child pornography. He was indicted by a Monmouth
County grand jury in July 2006 on 523
criminal counts. In an unrelated child pornography case, State Police Digital Technology Investigations Unit personnel conducted
an investigation known as Operation Riptide
that led to the arrest of seven people for distributing child rape videos. Among those arrested was an elementary school teacher
from Lower Township, Cape May County.

Taj Mahal Executive Charged
with Commercial Bribery—
Members of the State Police Casino Gaming Bureau arrested George Klima, the Taj
Mahal Casino’s Executive Director of Purchasing, in April 2006 following an investigation
that resulted in charges that Klima tried to
bribe a licensed casino service contractor. According to the charges against him, Klima allegedly tried to compel Atlantic City Linen
Supply to hire him at a salary of $75,000-peryear for five years plus full benefits and relocation fees to Delaware. In return, Klima sought
to implement new sales contracts between Taj
Mahal and Atlantic City Linen that would provide the dry cleaning company a seven percent
increase in revenues. The additional cost of
dry cleaning services that Klima’s employer,

Division of State Police
Taj Mahal, would pay under the new contracts
was designed to help Atlantic City Linen absorb the cost of hiring Klima. He was charged
with commercial bribery.

Ozgur Yetim Casino
“Markers” Investigation—
After approximately $150,000 in markers
obtained by gambler Ozgur Yetim at the
Borgata Hotel and Casino were returned for
insufficient funds, State Police Casino Gaming Bureau members launched an investigation into the credit activity of the Island Park,
N.Y. resident. Ultimately, detectives learned
that Yetim had obtained markers from seven
additional Atlantic City casinos, and that all
of them – totaling $685,000 – had been returned for insufficient funds. Yetim was arrested in November 2006 at the Borgata while
in possession of $14,000 cash and $6,500 in
gaming chips. He was charged with eight
counts of writing bad checks.

Homeland Security
Branch Highlights
Operation Safe Freight: During 2006, the
State Police Transportation Safety Bureau
conducted eight separate details. Through
the cooperative effort of the State Police and
the New Jersey Division of Taxation, assessments applied to motor carriers during Operation Safe Freight resulted in recovery of
more than $405,000 for the State.

Hazardous Materials
Response Unit—
The State Police Hazardous Materials Response Unit responded to 276 calls for service in 2006 including several suspected
CBRNE and criminal incidents that involved
such incidents as hoax anthrax threat letters
and the recovery of biological materials.

State Governmental
Security Bureau—
Security enhancements consisting of $1.2
million in construction and state-of-the-art
upgrades were implemented in 2006 at the
front of the New Jersey State House. Included in the enhancements was an upgraded
visitor screening system at the front entrance
to the building. This new area consisted of
approximately $900,000 in construction alterations and increased security measures including a state-of-the-art badging system for
all visitors, The badging system retains all
visitor information indefinitely, and produces
a photo bade for each visitor. Each State
House visitor now passes through a metal detector, and packages and deliveries are sent
through an x-ray machine.

6
0

Administrative
Branch Highlights
The New Jersey State Police initiated an
effort in 2006 to obtain accreditation from the
Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agenices (CALEA). If the volunteer effort is successful, it will help the State
Police maintain the consistent standard of excellence it has achieved through the federal
Consent Decree process. The CALEA accreditation process involves being evaluated
against a set of approximately 446 professional standards organized into 38 topic categories. The CALEA’s overall goals for participating police agencies include: strengthening their crime prevention capabilities, formal
implementation of the most effective management procedures, establishing and maintaining fair and non-discriminatory personnel
practices, improving interagency cooperation,
and increasing community confidence.

Canine Unit—
Dogs assigned to the State Police canine
unit were responsible for the recovery of
$4.4 million in currency, six kilograms of
cocaine, 16 pounds of heroin, 43 pounds of
marijuana and 2.5 pounds of methamphetamine. The unit also conducted more than
3,000 searches for explosives in 2006.
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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division
of Law
Staffed by approximately 520 Deputy Attorneys General, the Division of Law is involved
on a daily basis in many complex and important legal matters including, but not limited to,
those relating to health care, the protection of children from abuse and neglect, preservation of
the environment, and defending the public interest. The Division’s workload is informed by
the Attorney General’s statutory duty as legal adviser to agencies of State government and defender of State laws, by the number of lawsuits brought against the State, and by the amount
and nature of litigation pursued by various departments of State government. The Division’s
current caseload involves 37,500 pending legal matters, of which approximately 14,350 involve litigation (60 percent as defendant). Approximately 15,000 cases involve administrative
matters, 6,300 involve non-litigation matters (e.g., investigations, informal and formal advice,
etc.) and 1,750 involve appeals. To learn more visit www.nj.gov/oag/law

14

Division of Law

Keynote Achievements

Significant Cases

❖ The Division recovered $10.8 million in
past environmental cleanup costs and
more than $1.2 million in natural resource damages in 2006. The Division
also played a significant role in a series of
multi-state efforts challenging the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency’s
(EPA) recent weakening of federal Clean
Air Act Regulations, and engaged in litigation to challenge EPA’s attempt to exempt power plants from stringent controls on mercury emissions.

Federal Clean Air Cases—

❖ More than 1,050 children were cleared
for adoption in 2006 because of the work
of Division of Law DAsG assigned to
matters involving the state Division of
Youth and Family Services (DYFS).
❖ Civil enforcement actions handled by the
Division against insurance carriers, producers and public adjusters in 2006 resulted in 42 license revocations and suspensions, a total of $3,6 million in fines
imposed, and more than $7 million in
restitution assessed.
❖ Among the Division’s 2006 litigation efforts on behalf of New Jersey consumers
was the Ameriquest settlement, which
ensured that New Jersey residents who
had been subjected to predatory lending
practices between 1995 and 2005 will
receive a total of approximately $10 million in restitution.
❖ The Division handled a number of civil
matters relating to public safety in 2006
including Division of Fire Safety v. New
York Susquehanna & Western Railway.
The case involved the NYS&W storing
containers of hazardous and self-igniting
material in an unsafe manner. The railroad agreed to remove the material and
to meet regularly with local and state officials to provide information on handling and emergency response protocols.

The Division is engaged in several high
profile, multi-state efforts to address violations of the Clean Air Act by mid-western
power plants. Current lawsuits and potential
litigation involve more than 20 power plants
located in the states of Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Virginia. The various plants are owned by American Electric
Power, Cinergy, Allegheny Energy and Reliant
Energy. Each of the plants have made modifications to their units resulting in excess emission of air pollutants. The central legal question is whether those modifications triggered
provisions of the federal Clean Air Act that
require new or “modified” power plants to install pollution control devices to limit their
emissions. The sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and particulate matter emitted by these
plants get caught in the jet stream, form into
nitrates and sulfates, and are deposited in
New Jersey where they harm the public
health and the environment.

6
0

Lewis v. Harris/Civil Union Law—
The Division of Law was involved in
2006 in proceedings related to a lawsuit filed
several years ago by seven same-sex couples
who sought to obtain New Jersey marriage licenses but were rejected. The couples alleged
that the New Jersey Constitution’s privacy
and equal protection provisions require the
state to afford committed, same-sex couples
access to state-sanctioned marriages. On October 25, 2006, the Supreme Court of New
Jersey issued an opinion granting plaintiffs
significant relief. The Justices unanimously
held that the State Constitution “guarantees
that every statutory right and benefit conferred to heterosexual couples through civil
marriage must be made available to committed same-sex couples.” By a 4-3 vote, however, the Court also rejected the claim that
the State Constitution entitles same-sex
couples to enter into state-sanctioned mar-

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety
riages. The Court then referred the matter to
the Legislature to either amend the marriage
statutes to permit same-sex couples to marry,
or enact an appropriate statutory structure
creating a parallel relationship through which
committed, same-sex couples can access all
of the benefits, privileges and obligations of
marriage. On December 14, 2006, both
houses of the Legislature enacted a bill establishing civil unions for same-sex couples.
Governor Corzine signed the bill on December 21, 2006. The legislation provides
couples in civil unions with all of the rights,
benefits, responsibilities and obligations of
married couples. The Division continued
throughout late 2006 to provide legal advice
and assistance with respect to implementation of the new civil union statute.

New Jersey v. Delaware—
In this U.S. Supreme Court matter, New
Jersey brought suit against the State of Delaware over interpretation of the Compact of
1905 between the states. The current issue in
this longstanding dispute relates to whether
New Jersey has exclusive jurisdiction under
the Compact over riparian improvements
along New Jersey’s shore within the “12 Mile
Circle” area in the Delaware River. In January,
the Supreme Court referred the matter to a
Special Master and, after months of discovery
and expert reports, the parties filed motions
for summary judgment on December 22,
2006. The Division will be arguing that the
Compact gives New Jersey exclusive jurisdiction over improvements emanating from
the New Jersey shoreline, and that New Jersey has been exercising that jurisdiction for
many years. While a decision in the case will
ultimately have broader implications, one
specific dispute it is expected to resolve is
the matter of whether Delaware has any review and regulatory jurisdiction over a specific project – a liquefied natural gas facility
planned for development along the Delaware
riverfront in Gloucester County by British
Petroleum (BP).

16

United States v. Rabner —
This matter arose from the clandestine
surveillance of telephone-calling records by
the federal National Security Agency (NSA).
Earlier in 2006, it was widely reported that
the nation’s major telecommunications carriers had systematically turned over to the NSA
the telephone calling records of millions of
Americans without a court order or a showing of suspicion of criminal activity. The
phone records spanned a period beginning
shortly after September 11, 2001. When this
information became public, the Attorney
General’s Office served investigative subpoenas on each of the major telecommunications
carriers operating in New Jersey seeking information on whether they had provided telephone calling records to the NSA and, if so,
whether this activity was conducted pursuant
to a court order. Prior to the return date of
the subpoenas and before the Attorney General could initiate an enforcement action in
state court, the United States filed suit in federal court seeking a declaration that several
federal statutes, executive orders and legal
precedents bar the New Jersey Attorney General from conducting an investigation and
that the “state secrets doctrine” prevents telecommunications carriers from either admitting or denying any of the questions posed
in the New Jersey subpoenas. The Division
of Law responded with a motion arguing
that the United States lacks a cause of action, that the federal court lacks jurisdiction
and that the statutes, executive orders and
precedents cited by the United States do not
prohibit the Attorney General from conducting an investigation. The Court is currently
considering that motion.

Division of Law

PSEG/Exelon Proposed Merger —

Abbott v. Burke Litigation —

In 2006, the Division of Law was actively
involved in legal processes relating to a proposed merger involving PSEG and Exelon
that was before the Board of Public Utilities.
The proposed $17 billion merger would have
formed the largest utility in the history of the
United States, combining the largest gas and
electric utility in New Jersey with ComEd,
Chicago’s electric utility, and PECO,
Philadelphia’s electric utility. The merged entity would also have gained concentrated
ownership of electric generation plants — including nuclear power facilities — serving
New Jersey. The guiding statutory standard
was whether the merger would result in positive benefits in the areas of competition, service, rates and impact on employees. Due to
the size of the merger, the six weeks of hearings at the Office of Administrative Law drew
30 interveners from across a wide spectrum
of interests. As the case progressed, the Division also participated in the merger-related
proceedings of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission and the Antitrust Division of
the United States Department of Justice, both
of which approved it. When the Office of
Administrative Law hearings concluded, the
various parties attempted to negotiate a
settlement. The proceedings ultimately
reached an impasse, however, and PSEG and
Exelon withdrew the merger application in
September 2006.

As in years past, legal issues arising under the school-funding-related Abbott v.
Burke Supreme Court decision were an active area of litigation throughout 2006.
Cases regarding the level of funding for socalled Abbott districts, facilities and district
audits were heard by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Additionally, the Division
handled numerous litigation matters brought
by individual Abbott districts regarding
funding and programs.

6
0

Camden Redevelopment
Litigation —
The Division was involved in various litigation matters on behalf of the Economic Recovery Board for Camden, arising out of redevelopment projects undertaken in the city.
Camden is currently subject to state oversight
of certain funding allocation and capital improvements under the Municipal Rehabilitation and Economic Recovery Act. In one case
there was a challenge to the city’s ability to
use the power of eminent domain, set forth in
the New Jersey Fair Housing Act, to acquire
certain properties for affordable housing purposes as part of its redevelopment effort. The
Division filed a brief in support of the city’s authority to use eminent domain, and a Superior
Court judge subsequently agreed with the
Division’s position.

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division on
Civil Rights
The Division on Civil Rights is responsible for enforcing the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination (LAD) and the New Jersey Family Leave Act. The LAD seeks to prevent and remedy unlawful discrimination in employment, housing, contracting and places of public accommodation. The Family Leave Act provides eligible employees with leaves of absence in connection with the birth or adoption of a child or the serious health condition of an eligible
employee’s parent, child or spouse. In a broader sense, the Division’s mandate is to foster sensitivity, acceptance and respect among all people across the State. For this reason, the Division
sponsors a variety of education and community outreach activities. The Division has five regional offices located in Atlantic City, Camden, Newark, Paterson and Trenton. In addition to
processing and investigating complaints of unlawful discrimination, the Division receives —
and responds to — nearly 20,000 inquiries annually from the general public and employers regarding civil rights law. For more information visit www.NJCivilRights.org.

18

Division on Civil Rights

Significant
Cases and Orders
Internet Housing
Discrimination Cases—
The Division filed housing discrimination complaints in 2006 against numerous
landlords and real estate agencies that were
targeted for state “testing” after they published apartment rental ads on the Internet
specifying their intent to discriminate. In
some cases, the Internet ads made clear that
tenants who planned to pay using federal
Section 8 rental assistance were not welcome.
In other cases, the ads indicated that renters
with children need not apply. All but one of
the Internet ads was discovered on the popular Internet Web site www.Craigslist.org. In all
but one of the cases, the landlords and real
estate agents were accused not only of publishing discriminatory housing ads on the
Internet, but of engaging in discriminatory
conduct once contacted by undercover
testers employed by the Division.
Among those civilly prosecuted by the
Division in connection with on-line discrimination was Dr. Badawy M. Badawy, a Jersey
City pediatrician. Badawy was charged with
discrimination after telling a State tester who
had responded to his on-line rental ad that he
would not rent an apartment he owns — located above his Jersey City pediatrician’s
practice — to anyone with children. Also
prosecuted in connection with the same case
were Century 21 On the River Realty of
Edgewater, Bergen County, and two licensed
real estate agents employed by the firm. The
Internet ad for Badawy’s apartment stated
“NO CHILDREN.” In an unrelated case,
landlords Francesca and Rosa Grasso of
Garfield, Bergen County, were charged with
discrimination for publishing an on-line ad
indicating that tenants using federal Section
8 rental assistance were not welcome. Landlords Gerald and Nancy Rubin were also
charged with discrimination for placing online ads rejecting children relative to an
apartment they were advertising in North
Plainfield, Somerset County.

Sexual Harassment Cases—
The Division issued Findings of Probable
Cause in 2006 against three major employers
accused of discriminating against female
workers by subjecting them to sexual harassment and a hostile work environment. The
employers were also charged with failing to
act once the employees reported their allegations. Named as Respondents in separate
Findings of Probable Cause were Wal-Mart
Stores Inc., the Amerada Hess Corporation,
Inc., and Ozzie’s Ford Store, a Hudson county
auto dealership.
In the Wal-Mart case, a cashier at a company-owned Wal-Mart in Union Township,
Union county, alleged that she was targeted
for repeated, unwelcome sexual advances and
requests for sexual favors by two weekend security guards at the store. After she reported
the harassment to store management, she alleged, her weekend working hours were curtailed. In the Amerada Hess case, a female
employee filed a complaint against the company related to alleged harassment she experienced while working at her job as a cashier
at a Hess service/convenience station in
Woodbridge, Middlesex County. The worker
charged that she was targeted for reprisals by
Amerada Hess – including an unwanted
transfer out of the Woodbridge location – after reporting to the company that her manager had made sexual advances and lewd
comments to her. In the Ozzie’s Ford case, a
former office manager at Ozzie’s, a car dealership located in Kearny, charged that she was
forced to resign because of consistent sexual
and race-based harassment in the workplace.
A Finding of Probable Cause means the state
has concluded its preliminary investigation
and determined there is sufficient evidence to
support a reasonable suspicion that the conduct at issue violated the New Jersey Law
Against Discrimination (LAD).

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0

19

New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Williams v. State Shuttle/Top
Ten Leasing Inc.—

Keynote Initiatives

The wife of a bus driver who died of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome was
awarded $12,000 in back pay and emotional
distress compensation in 2006 after the Director of the Division on Civil Rights found
that her husband was wrongfully denied
work by his employer, State Shuttle/Top Ten
Leasing Inc., in the months prior to his death.
Despite a doctor’s note clearing him to return
to work, and despite evidence of a shortage of
bus drivers at State Shuttle/Top Ten Leasing,
the driver was not contacted with work assignments following his return from an illness-related leave of absence. An Administrative Law Judge originally dismissed the complaint, but the Director of the Division found
there was sufficient evidence in the record to
conclude that the driver was denied work because of a disability in violation of the New

Mediation Unit: In 2006, the Division’s
Mediation Unit successfully resolved 158
cases. The total amount of money obtained
for complainants through mediation was
$602,477. The Mediation Unit provides parties an opportunity to resolve complaints
amicably in the early stages of the process.
Mediation typically begins within two
months of the filing of a Verified Complaint. Successful mediation allows parties
to address a complaint expeditiously while
eliminating litigation expenses.

Jersey Law Against Discrimination.

Kathleen Connors Ryan v.
Freehold Regional High
School District—
The Director awarded educator Kathleen
Connors Ryan $305,025 in back pay and
$25,000 in compensation for pain and humiliation in connection with the refusal of
the Freehold Regional High School district to
rehire her. Ryan alleged in her original Complaint that Freehold was refusing to rehire
her as a retaliatory measure because, during
her prior employment with the district, she
had asserted her right to time off under the
Family Leave Act.

20

Case Management Initiatives—
Through its vigorous case management
initiatives, the Division continued in 2006 to
resolve many of its oldest cases. Targeting all
cases that had been under investigation for
at least one year, the Division aggressively
pursued resolutions and, by June 30, had
closed out all but 90 of 507 cases categorized as “backlogged.” On July 1, 2006, the
Division’s Case Management Unit and Bureau of Enforcement began work on a new
initiative targeting 407 additional cases. As
of year’s end, more than 200 of those cases
had been resolved. Overall, the Division reduced its caseload to 1,172 active cases in
2006 – the lowest number of cases under investigation since 1984.

Division on Civil Rights

Training and Outreach—
Through its Bureau of Prevention and
Community Relations, the Division continued in 2006 to provide quality civil-rights-related training to employers in the public and
private sectors, in addition to landlords, fair
housing organizations, school districts and
others. For the year, the Division conducted
171 training seminars statewide involving
more than 8,500 participants. The Division
also took part in a number of joint training
initiatives for educators and employers focused on bias-related bullying and harassment. The Division’s partner in those joint
training efforts was the Office of Bias Crime
and Community Relations within the Division of Criminal Justice.

6
0

IAOHRA Conference in A.C.—
The Division co-hosted the 58th Annual
conference of the International Association of
Official Human Rights Agencies (IAOHRA)
in Atlantic City from September 12 through
September 15. Hundreds of people from
around the nation attended the four-day
event in Atlantic City. Held under the working title “Building the Boardwalk to Justice,”
the conference featured workshops and training sessions led by leaders in the areas of human relations and civil rights. Co-hosts of
the conference included the New Jersey
Commission on Civil Rights and the New
Jersey Human Relations Council.

21

New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division of
Consumer Affairs
The Division of Consumer Affairs is responsible for administering and enforcing laws enacted to ensure integrity and fairness in New Jersey’s commercial and investment marketplaces. The Division’s essential mission is to protect New Jersey consumers from fraud, deception and unconscionable practices, and to make certain the state’s licensed professions and
trades observe the highest standards of conduct. In addition to investigating and, where appropriate, prosecuting those who commit fraud and other consumer-related violations, the Division provides information and public awareness outreach on many significant consumer issues. The major units of the Division include its Bureau of Securities, Office of Consumer Protection, Lemon Law Unit, Regulated Business Unit, Charitable Registration and Investigation
Unit, Legalized Games of Chance Control Commission, Office of Weights and Measures, Alternative Dispute Resolution Unit, Kosher Enforcement Unit and Halal Enforcement Unit.

22

Division of Consumer Affairs

Significant Cases
Expired Drugstore Products/
Price Fraud Lawsuit—
The Division filed separate lawsuits in
2006 against the Rite Aid and Duane Reade
drugstore chains alleging that both sold products that were past the manufacturer’s expiration date, including infant formula, baby
food and non-prescription drugs. The Division also accused the two drugstore chains of
misleading New Jersey consumers by charging them more than the posted price for
products, and for failing to display their refund policies. Both Rite Aid and Duane
Reade are also accused of violating prior enforcement agreements with the Division.

“Cherry Hill Triplex”
Auto Sales Fraud Lawsuit—
In a multi-count civil lawsuit, the Division accused several car dealerships trading
under the name “Cherry Hill Triplex” in
Cherry Hill with misleading consumers. The
lawsuit charged that Cherry Hill Triplex
dealerships violated the law by, among other
things, advertising such enticements as
“$8,000 GUARANTEED FOR YOUR
TRADE,” “no credit check,” and “you instantly qualify regardless of your credit,” then
failing to provide the advertised $8,000
trade-in allowance and credit. The suit also
accused Triplex dealers of failing to properly
display sale prices on used and new vehicles,
and failing to disclose the prior rental history
of used vehicles. The case is pending.

Ramsey Auto Group
Settlement—
The Division settled its lawsuit against
the Ramsey Auto Group, Inc., with an agreement that required the company to pay
$250,000 to the state, establish a restitution
account in the sum of $156,000, and substantially change its business practices. The
State’s complaint accused the Ramsey Auto
Groups dealerships of failing to disclose the
material terms of auto deals, not honoring
advertised prices, not disclosing the condition of used cars, misrepresenting the
amount paid to the New Jersey Motor Vehicle
Commission for license, title and registration

fees, charging for “after sale” items (such as
window etching) without consumer authorization, not providing accurate credits for
trade-ins, failing to give customers the chance
to review all sales documents before signing,
placing advertisements that did not comply
with the law and charging for repairs performed in excess of the estimated price without consumer’s consent.
“Animal Welfare” Charity Collection Injunctions: In separate court actions, the Division obtained injunctions in 2006 barring two
charities – the “National Animal Welfare
Foundation” and the “Lovers of Animals
Foundation” from soliciting charitable donations in New Jersey. Both entities collected
donations – ostensibly for the prevention of
cruelty to animals — by placing canisters on
retail store counters. The Division alleged
that little, if any, of the money collected in
those canisters actually went toward combating animal cruelty. Instead, the Division
charged, most of the money was spent on
fund-raising-related expenses. In addition,
neither of the two entities had registered with
the Division’s Charitable Registration and Investigation unit, as required by law. The Division of Consumer Affairs Web site includes a
link through which consumers can report the
locations of NAWF or LOA donation canisters still in use.

6
0

Shutdown of Unlicensed
Nursing School
The owners of the Comtrain Institute in
East Orange — Luc Gayot and Donald H.
Mintz — were permanently barred from operating, owning or working for a vocational
school or practical nursing school as the result of action taken by the Division of Consumer Affairs. A New Jersey Superior Court
judge concluded that Gayot and Mintz offered
practical nursing courses without being licensed and, in doing so, had violated both the
Consumer Fraud Act and the Nurse Practice
Act. The Division had alleged that Gayot and
Mintz repeatedly and flagrantly misrepresented
to students that Comtrain was licensed to
teach practical nursing courses. Because of
Comtrain’s misleading claims, students who attended the school were unable to sit for their
licensing exams.
23

New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

24

Bureau of Securities Market
Timing Settlements—

Major Settlement in Wachovia
Conflict-of-Interest Case—

The Division’s Bureau of Securities settled
three major cases in 2006 that involved allegations of deceptive market timing or illegal
late trading. Market timing involves making
frequent trades into and out of mutual funds
to take advantage of market fluctuations.
Most funds have policies against market timing, which harms long-term investors by (1)
allowing the market timer to siphon off
short-term profits and dilute the value of the
fund, (2) increasing transactional costs of the
fund, and (3) making the fund more difficult
to manage. Late trading involves improperly
buying and selling mutual fund shares after
the close of the market that were priced as of
the close. As the result of a joint settlement
agreement involving the Bureau of Securities
and the New York Stock Exchange, UBS Financial Services Inc. paid a total of $49.5 million. Canary Capital Partners, LLC, agreed to
pay $10 million as a result of a settlement
agreement with the Bureau of Securities and
Prudential Securities entered into a multi-state
settlement that required a total payment of
$270 million into an investor restitution fund.

As the result of a settlement that resolved
allegations of potential conflict of interest,
Wachovia Capital Markets paid the New Jersey Bureau of Securities within the Division
$561,458 in civil penalties in 2006. The
settlement resolved allegations by the State
that certain practices at Wachovia involved
potential conflict of interest between the
company’s research analysts and investment
bankers. In addition to the half-million-dollar
payout in penalties, Wachovia was also required to pay into a fund administered by the
Investor Protection Trust, a non-profit corporation set up to distribute investor education
grants. The Wachovia settlement was part of a
multi-state investigation in which New Jersey
played a lead role.
First Montauk Securities, J.P Turner &
Company Settlements: First Montauk Securities Corporation paid the State $475,000 in
civil monetary penalties in 2006 to resolve allegations that the Red-Bank-based company
failed to supervise its agents, engaged in misrepresentations and omissions of fact to investors, and participated in market manipulation with respect to the resale of below-investment-grade bonds that caused substantial
losses to investors. As part of the settlement
agreement, the chairman and vice-chairman
of the firm agreed to resign from their positions with the parent company, First Montauk
Securities Corporation. In an unrelated matter, the securities firm J.P. Turner & Company
L.L.C. paid $195,000 in civil monetary penalties to settle allegations that it failed to properly supervise the conduct of its sales agents
in the company’s Brooklyn, N.Y. office.

Division of Consumer Affairs

Key Initiatives
Consumer Fraud
Detection Unit—
Formed in 2006, the Consumer Fraud
Detection Unit is comprised of existing Division investigators. Its principal mission is to
identify deceptive commercial practices or
emerging consumer fraud trends that may
harm New Jersey consumers. Consumer
Fraud Detection Unit investigators research
misleading business practices, conduct field
inspections, engage in undercover operations
and organize fraud-related task forces.

Board of Medical Examiners –
Physician Profile Web site —
Public Citizen, the national public advocacy group, rated New Jersey first in a ranking of the content and “user-friendliness” of
doctor disciplinary information found on
state medical board Web sites. The New Jersey Healthcare Profile, located at
www.njdoctorlist.com, allows consumers to
learn detailed information about their doctors’ education and training, as well as any
disciplinary or malpractice history.

Home Improvement
Contractor Registrations:
The Division’s Regulated Business unit
processed more than 40,000 registration applications for home improvement contractors
in 2006, far exceeding the original estimate of
25,000 that accompanied enactment of the
state’s new Home Improvement Contractors
Registration Act in December 2005. The law
requires contractors to register annually with
the Division of Consumer Affairs. The law
also requires that home improvement contracts involving more than $500 contain certain terms including, among other things, a
description of the work, the start/stop dates
for the job, the total price including finance
charges, and the contractor’s signature. The
Division pursued more than 60 home improvement contractors in 2006 for a variety
of violations, including one – AZ Renovations
of Monmouth and Ocean counties – accused
of creating a false registration number. The
Division filed a civil lawsuit against AZ Renovations, charging that the company used its
false registration number to obtain municipal
permits and perform work. In December
2006, a Superior Court judge enjoined AZ
from using its false registration number, and
from providing home improvement contracting services until properly registered. The
case is pending.

6
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25

New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division
of Gaming
Enforcement
Established in 1977, the Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) was created under the
Casino Control Act to ensure the integrity of casino gaming in Atlantic City. Its mission is to
protect the public interest by maintaining a legitimate and viable gaming industry free from
the influence of organized crime, and to ensure the honesty, good character and integrity of casino operators, employees and vendors. The Division performs its mission through enforcement of the Casino Control Act and related regulations, which were designed to ensure a
strictly-regulated and economically sound gaming industry. Oversight by the Division includes
investigations, inspection and audit, as well as criminal and regulatory prosecution. Criminal
matters pursued by the Division of Gaming Enforcement are prosecuted by the New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice. Additional information about the Division of Gaming Enforcement
is available by visiting www.njdge.org.

26

Division of Gaming Enforcement

Significant Cases
License Suspension of
Interstate Companies—
The casino service industry licenses of
Frank and Peter DiTommaso and their two
companies were suspended in 2006 as the result of a petition by the Division of Gaming
Enforcement. The DiTomassos, allegedly tied
to organized crime, were indicted by a New
York grand jury for perjury in connection
with a criminal investigation into the renovation of former New York City Police Commissioner Bernard Kerik’s apartment. The
suspension by the Casino Control Commission followed more than five years of administrative and civil litigation brought by the
Division of Gaming Enforcement to have the
brothers and their companies — Interstate
Industrial Corp. and Interstate Drywall Corp.
— barred from conducting business within
Atlantic City’s gaming industry. The suspensions remain in effect pending resolution of
the criminal indictment. The DiTommasos
filed in 1997 for a non-gaming casino service
industry license. Following hearings that began in 2001 and lasted 13 months, the Casino Control Commission issued licenses to
the Interstate companies. The Division of
Gaming Enforcement appealed, however, alleging that the DiTommaso had ties to the
Gambino and DeCavalcante organized crime
families dating back to the 1980s. (During a
criminal trial involving organized crime in
the Bronx in 2004, several organized crime
figures testified that the DiTommasos and Interstate were affiliated with the Gambino
crime family.) In November 2005, the Division filed a formal complaint requesting that
the Casino Control Commission revoke
Interstate’s service industry licenses. The Division alleged in its complaint that the
DiTomasso brothers and their companies
were “associates of career offenders or career
offender cartels.”

Eleven Indicted in Drug Case—
As the result of a cooperative investigation involving the Division of Gaming Enforcement, New Jersey State Police and the
Division of Criminal Justice, 11 people were
indicted in April 2006 on criminal charges related to an alleged drug distribution network
operating in the South-Jersey-Philadelphia region. The indictments were the culmination
of a two-year investigation that revealed the
importing of thousands of contraband cartons
of cigarettes, as well as the sale of marijuana
and Ecstasy pills. As part of an investigation
dubbed “Operation Marlboro,” State Police
troopers assigned to the Division of Gaming
Enforcement infiltrated criminal groups operating in South Jersey and Philadelphia. The
investigators allegedly purchased more than
32,000 cartoons of cigarettes, approximately
25,000 Ecstasy pills and negotiated the sale of
approximately 80 pounds of marijuana
through members of the alleged network. The
11 defendants were charged with multiple
counts of conspiracy, money laundering, distribution of a controlled dangerous substance
and counterfeiting. Two defendants have
pleaded guilty to date, and have been sentenced to respective prison terms of three
years and five years.

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Casino Violations Result in
Half-Million in Fines—
The Division filed nine complaints
against various Atlantic City casinos in 2006
alleging violations of the Casino Control Act
or regulations. Violations charged included
misuse of a surveillance camera, permitting
underage gambling and misuse of computer
software. As a result of the complaints, the
Casino Control Commission collected
$540,000 in penalties. Division complaints
also resulted in the forfeiture of $29,000 in
combined winnings from people wagering

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety
while on the Self-Exclusion List. Monies collected from the violations and forfeitures are
awarded to the Council on Compulsive Gambling to be used to combat gambling addiction. In one case, the Division filed a complaint against Boardwalk Regency Corporation, doing business as Caesars Atlantic City,
as well as four employees in the casino’s surveillance department. The complaint alleged
that the four employees engaged in improper
and unauthorized use of surveillance cameras
by focusing the cameras on female patrons
and employees. The Casino Control Commission fined Caesars $185,000.

Highlights
Historic Casino
Industry Shutdown—
Division of Gaming Enforcement personnel were essential in ensuring that a legally
required – and historic — shutdown of casino gambling in Atlantic City during the
summer of 2006 was carried out in a smooth,
orderly and trouble-free manner. The 12 Atlantic City casinos were required to close for
71 hours between July 5 and July 7 after attempts by the Legislature to finalize a State
budget agreement by the Constitutionallymandated deadline of June 30 were unsuccessful. Gov. Corzine signed an Executive
Order shutting down non-essential state services, which included the activities of DGE
regulators. (By law, DGE regulators must be
present at each casino on an around-theclock basis, or the casinos must close.) Division of Gaming Enforcement agents and State
Police personnel were subsequently dispatched to every casino to deal with security
concerns, ensure the safe evacuation of all
patrons, protect casino assets such as money
and chips and secure all 43,000 slot machines. Following resolution of the budget
impasse, the Division assisted with a problem-free and expeditious reopening of all casino operations.

28

Tropicana Purchase
by Wimar Tahoe Corp—
The Wimar Tahoe Corp. took its first step
in acquiring the Tropicana Casino and Resort
in Atlantic City when it was cleared by the
Division in November to receive an Interim
Casino Authorization (ICA), or temporary licensure. Doing business as “Columbia Entertainment,” Wimar entered into an agreement
with the Aztar Corporation in May 2006 to
acquire its Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City
and Las Vegas, as well as Aztar’s subsidiaries
in Nevada and Indiana.
The Division conducted a preliminary review of Wimar’s filings for completeness, and
reviewed the background of associated companies and individuals. On the basis of that
review, the Division recommended to the Casino Control Commission that an ICA be
granted. The Division is currently undertaking a more extensive investigation into the
companies and their officers to determine
qualification for Tropicana ownership. Wimar
is a privately-held corporation controlled by
William J. Yung III. Yung is president of the
Kentucky-based Columbia Sussex Corp., a
privately held hospitality company consisting
of 67 franchised hotels and 15 casinos.
Closure of the Sands: On September 3,
2006, Pinnacle Entertainment , Inc. entered
into an agreement with ACE Gaming LLC,
owner of the Sands Hotel and Casino, to purchase the casino and the adjacent property,
known as the Traymore site. The Division
completed a preliminary review of all related
documents, including a Shutdown Plan submitted by Pinnacle to the Casino Control
Commission for an interim license. Prior to
closing the casino, representatives of the Division and the Casino Control Commission
conducted extensive meetings with ACE officials to discuss such critical issues as records
retention, gaming equipment, security and financial reporting. Opened in 1980, the Sands
was a relatively small casino. In November,
ACE closed the Sands, and Pinnacle announced plans to demolish it and construct a
larger, more competitive casino and hotel.
Pinnacle has not yet announced its timetable.

Division of Gaming Enforcement

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Racing
Commission
The core mission of the New Jersey Racing Commission is to govern, direct and regulate
horse racing and pari-mutuel wagering in New Jersey. The Racing Commission conducts
vigorous oversight of horse racing matters throughout the State to ensure that racing is
conducted in a fair, responsible and lawful manner. Commission staff members also provide
administrative support to encourage the growth of the horse racing industry through expansion of wagering opportunities.

30

New Jersey Racing Commission

Off-Track Wagering
Moves Forward—
In 2006, the Racing Commission processed and approved three applications for
off-track wagering facilities, and those sites
were ultimately affirmed by the Attorney
General’s Office. The first off-track facility to
be approved by the Commission was a site
in Vineland, Cumberland County. To be located in a former auto dealership, the offtrack betting site is expected to open in
spring 2007. It will be operated by Greenwood Racing, owners of Philadelphia Park
and the Atlantic City Race Course. Other
off-track betting locations approved by the
Commission in 2006 were a planned New
Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority site
in Woodbridge, Middlesex County, and a
site to be operated by Freehold Raceway in
Toms River, Ocean County. The Woodbridge
site is expected to open in summer 2007,
and the Toms River site is expected to begin
operating in fall 2007. At the off-track facilities, bettors will be able to wager on horse
races simulcast from race tracks around the
country. Atlantic City’s casinos and New
Jersey’s four horse-racing tracks already offer simulcast wagering. The establishment of
15 legal off-track betting sites around the
state was part of the legislation that authorized creation of New Jersey’s account wagering system in 2004. Operational since
late-October of that year, the new system allows bettors to place their horse wagers by
telephone or Internet.

Investigations,
Enforcement Actions—
The Racing Commission took action in
2006 against several parties found to have
been involved in the violation of horse racing rules. Principal among the cases was
“Operation Horsepower,” an investigation
into illegal horse drugging that led to arrest
and Racing Commission sanctions against
several high-profile standard bred horsemen.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Racing Commission’s investigative team and the State Police Horse Race
Unit, and it resulted in several arrests in
April 2006.
Arrested was Eric Ledford of Monroe
Township, Middlesex County. Ledford, a
leading driver at the Meadowlands Race
Track, was arrested at the driver’s locker
room at Meadowlands and charged with
conspiracy to rig a publicly-exhibited contest. Also arrested were two employees of the
well-known Seldon Ledford Stables – Ryan
Dailey and his wife Ardena J. Daily of East
Windsor. Both Daileys were arrested at their
home and charged with race-rigging and
possession of drugs. Ryan Dailey is an assistant trainer at Seldon Ledford Stables and
Ardena Dailey is a stable employee. Also arrested in connection with the case was veterinarian John R. Witmer of Freehold. He
was charged with conspiracy to rig a publicly exhibited contest. Statistics discovered
during the State’s investigation showed that
horses joining the Ledford stables – even
those with well-established performance
records – often posted dramatically improved race times within a few days of their
arrival. Horses under Ledford usually improved their race times between one and two
seconds, which translates to between five
and 10 lengths of a horse.

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

32

National Racing Compact—

Digital Photo Licensing—

The Racing Commission is integrally involved in horse-racing-related matters at the
national level. In addition to active participation in national horse racing organizations, New Jersey became a full member in
2006 of the National Racing Compact. The
Compact is a multi-jurisdictional government agency that processes license applications and fingerprint checks for horsemen
throughout the nation who plan to race in
several jurisdictions. Racing Commission
staff members are involved with several
Compact committees, including one focused
on license application review for problematic candidates. Also, the Racing Commission adopted rules in 2006 that create conformity with most national medication standards as part of a nationwide effort to standardized race horse medication thresholds,
as well as lists of banned substances.

As the result of a cooperative effort involving the Department of Law and Public
Safety’s Information Technology group, Consolidated Administrative Support Services
staff and Racing Commission personnel, the
state was able to introduce a new Digital
Photo License System in 2006 that streamlines, and reduces the cost of, the process of
issuing license badges.

New Jersey Racing Commission

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division of
Alcoholic
Beverage Control
The Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control's mission is to protect the public's health,
safety and welfare by strictly regulating how alcoholic beverages are sold and by fostering
moderation and responsibility in alcohol consumption. The Division fulfills its purpose by
regulating and licensing the manufacture, distribution, sale and transportation of all alcoholic beverages within the state. Essential to the state's control of the liquor industry is the
concept that licensees are granted a privilege to sell alcoholic beverages and that this privilege may be forfeited for any violation of the alcoholic beverage law or regulations. If a licensee violates any law or regulation, the Director may suspend or revoke the license or impose a fine and/or any other appropriate condition on the license.
Retail licenses are generally issued by the city or town where the business is located, although the Division may issue a retail license in certain circumstances. Both the municipal issuing authority and the State ABC have concurrent jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute
violations by retail licensees.
The issuance of new licenses as well as transfers and renewals of existing ones must be approved by the municipal issuing authority and then sent to the Division where the information
is processed. The ABC is the official repository for license ownership information. The Division is the sole issuing authority for manufacturing and wholesale licenses and for a variety of
special permits for various charitable and business-related events. There are approximately
9,500 separate ABC licenses and more than 26,000 permits and insignia issued.

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Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control

Highlights for 2006
Underage Drinking—
The Division's number one priority continues to be combating underage drinking.
The agency worked to accomplish this
through a comprehensive plan that includes
both law enforcement and public awareness
and education programs. Highlights of this
plan include:

Cops in Shops—
In 1996, the Division launched a statewide initiative, known as Cops in Shops, to
curtail underage drinking. The program brings
undercover law enforcement officers and local
retail establishments together in a partnership
designed to deter the sale of alcohol to underage individuals and stop adults from attempting to purchase alcohol for people under the
legal age. To further deter young people from
attempting to purchase alcohol, participating
retail establishments display posters on doors
and throughout the store and place stickers on
cold cases, warning that an undercover officer
may be on the premises.
Originally implemented in a handful of
towns with significant numbers of college-age
students in the fall and in resort areas with
large influxes of young people in the summer
months, the program's unprecedented success
has resulted in a demand from jurisdictions
around the State to expand the program. To
date, more than 200 towns have been trained
to run a Cops in Shops program.
Arrest numbers since the program's inception
reinforce not only the effort's success but the
difference it has made in the public safety. To
date, approximately 6,300 individuals have
been arrested through the Cops in Shops program. Approximately 240 arrests were made,
with 304 separate offenses charged, in the
summer of 2006 under the annual Shore initiative funded through a grant from the State
Division of Highway Traffic Safety. The college town Cops in Shops program, run during the fall/winter of 2005-2006 and also
funded by a grant from the Division of Highway Traffic Safety, resulted in 93 arrests, with
124 separate offenses charged.

Compliance Checks—
Working with local police departments
and County Prosecutors' Offices, the Division
is running year-round compliance checks in
licensed establishments that typically attract
younger patrons. Police officers, ABC investigators and prosecutors conduct operations
identifying the underage purchasers, as well
as those that sell to them.

Package Store Training Video—

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In 2006, the Division produced a 20minute training video designed to assist package store owners identify potential underage
individuals attempting to purchase alcohol. A
companion video to the server training video
produced two years ago, this new effort will
offer detailed information to help liquor store
owners and their employees prevent the sales
of alcohol to persons under the age of 21.

“Dangers of Underage Drinking”
2007 Billboard and Calendar
Competition—
A cooperative effort between the Division
of Alcoholic Beverage Control and the Partnership for a Drug-Free New Jersey, this statewide initiative is designed to encourage middle
school students and their parents to work together to create billboard and calendar messages with the theme ADangers of Alcohol.
The 2006-2007 program produced more
than 2,000 entries statewide for the 2007
calendar. Thirteen winning messages, selected from the submissions, are chosen each
year and are featured on a calendar that is
distributed to all middle schools. The grand
prize winning message is reproduced on
highway billboards throughout the state. Additionally, the 2006 calendar was recognized
with an award of excellence from the New
Jersey Advertising Club.

Enhancing Relationships with
Prevention Organizations—
The Division continued in 2006 to foster
working relationships with substance abuse
and prevention organizations throughout the
state. Specifically, the Division continued
working with the Childhood Drinking Coalition, an organization comprised of government, prevention, law enforcement and edu35

New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety
cation representatives. ABC representatives
also worked with the Governor's Counsel on
Alcoholism and Drug Abuse, and served on
the counsel's Alliance Sub-Committee. The
Division also supported the national Town
Hall Meeting initiative, organized by the
State's Division of Addiction Services.

Higher Education
Consortium Training—
The Division has continued to work with
the Higher Education Consortium on providing training workshops and conferences for
college educators, prevention specialists, and
the law enforcement community on the latest
approaches to combating underage drinking
in and around the college campus.
In 2006, a symposium was held on alcohol issues and challenges in higher education. The intent of this symposium was to
train college prevention teams, including residence life, law enforcement, judicial affairs,
and alcohol and substance abuse prevention
specialists, to prevent and intervene effectively with alcohol and other drug related incidents on campus, in residence halls, and in
surrounding communities. More than 150 attendees representing 22 colleges attended two
sessions, one in the northern and one in the
southern region of the state. Additionally, a
third program was held for community college representatives.

Regulatory Efforts
Recognizing that the Division plays a
critical role in ensuring the public's health,
safety and welfare, the agency set forth the
following regulatory efforts to enhance the
quality of life in every municipality:

ABC Advisory Committee—
Comprised of representatives from the alcoholic beverage industry, the committee was
reconstituted in 2006 and charged with discussing and analyzing various ABC issues impacting government, the industry and the
public. The committee also makes recommendations to the Director on proposed
regulations and policy issues.

36

Municipal Appeals—
The Division also acts as the appellate authority for any appeal that may be taken by a
licensee or an interested party from any actions by the local issuing authority. In 2006,
the agency rendered 567 rulings on petitions
filed by licensees for permission to renew
their licenses under special circumstances.
The Division received 96 appeals related to licensing actions by municipalities. Additionally, 105 contested matters pending in the Office of Administrative Law were also monitored, and 69 cases were closed.

Enhanced Agency
Hearing Procedures—
During the past six years, the Division
has continued its efforts to become more responsive to community concerns regarding
problem liquor licenses, specifically through
enhanced hearing procedures. The in-house
hearing process has been invigorated through
an interim relief hearing by the Director before a matter is referred to the Office of Administrative Law for a full hearing, thereby
ensuring that quality of life issues that indirectly impact residents are heard in a prompt
and efficient manner.

Significant Cases
Direct Shipment of Wine—
Legislation was signed in August 2004
that eliminated the statutory provisions authorizing the direct shipment of alcoholic
beverages by in-state wineries within New
Jersey. Specifically, the new law eliminated
the disparity between in-state and out-of-state
companies without harming in-state licensees. The Division recommended this repeal in
order to promote public safety and retain and
preserve the benefits of New Jersey's threetier system of distribution, which provides
the most effective means of ensuring the safe
distribution and sale of alcoholic beverages to
New Jersey consumers. This system maintains trade stability and helps ensure physical
control and access to sellers of alcoholic beverages for both regulation and enforcement
purposes and prevents the distribution of
adulterated or illegally obtained products.

Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control
Currently, the Division is defending a suit
in federal court (Freeman v. McGreevey) that
alleges New Jersey's existing system, even
with the August 2004 legislative changes,
violates the dormant commerce clause by discriminating against out-of-state wineries.

Division of Alcoholic Beverage
Control v. Maynard's Inc.—
On November 28, 2006, the Division argued
an appeal from Maynard's Café before the New
Jersey Supreme Court. The issue on appeal is: “Is
a liquor licensee responsible for the acts of its
employees if those acts are undertaken without
the licensee's knowledge and participation, and
in contravention to the licensee's instructions?”
A decision is forthcoming.

M.A.G. Entertainment—
The Division charged the licensee, M.A.G.
Entertainment, with serving an intoxicated patron who subsequently caused a fatal motor vehicle accident. The Office of Administrative
Law found the licensee guilty of the charge and
recommended the liquor license be revoked.
The ABC Director issued a Final Order and
Conclusion affirming the OAL decision and ordered the license be revoked. The licensee has
made a motion to reconsider to the Director.

Lewd Statute—
Constitutional challenges to the Division’s
regulation prohibiting “lewdness or immoral
activity” on licensed premises were completed
in 2006. The first case was decided by the
Third Circuit on July 18, 2006. In a
precedential decision, 181 South v. Jerry
Fischer, 454 F.3d 228 (3d Cir. 2006), the court
affirmed a District Court opinion and held
that the regulation is not overbroad, vague or
otherwise in violation of federal constitutional
guarantees of free expression. The licensee
sought several rehearings, which were denied.
The licensee's time for filing an appeal to the
United States Supreme Court has expired.

■ UHR, LLC, trading as Hooters: The licensee was charged with 13 sales to persons
under the legal age;
■ Jo Barb, Inc., trading as Platinum: The
licensee was charged with sales to 12 persons
under the legal age, 2 narcotic transactions on
the premises, and 2 paper violations;
■ Bamboo II, trading as Bamboo: The licensee was charged with serving multiple underage patrons;

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Investigative Efforts
The Division's Investigations Bureau examined 3,385 matters involving the alcoholic beverage industry. Of those, 50 percent, or 1,719,
were compliance inspections which noted in excess of 3,500 potential administrative violations.
As part of the Division's commitment in reducing underage consumption of alcohol, the bureau conducted 36 operations targeting establishments catering to young customers. A total
of 2,127 persons were “carded” for identification and 181 arrests for the sale, service and/or
consumption of alcoholic beverages by underage persons were made during these enforcement actions. In addition to the criminal arrests,
the cases were forwarded to the Division's Enforcement Bureau for review of administrative
violations against the licensee.
The bureau strives to work closely with all
levels of law enforcement, and conducted 11
training seminars for more then 400 law enforcement personnel and municipal clerks. An
important component of the bureau's mission is
to ensure that the unlicensed and unregulated
sale of alcohol is identified and prosecuted. During this year, the bureau has conducted three
criminal investigations of the sale of alcohol
without a license resulting in three arrests, the
posting of $75,000 in cash bonds in lieu of forfeiture and the seizure of four stills. The latter
was the first seizure of stills in over 40 years.

Service/Consumption of Alcohol by Underage Individuals—
Following are significant cases handled
by the Division's Enforcement Bureau related
to underage sales and consumption of alcohol.
These cases were closed in 2006.
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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division
of Highway
Traffic Safety
The mission of the Division of Highway Traffic Safety is to reduce fatalities, injuries and
property damage on the roads of New Jersey resulting from traffic crashes. To achieve its
mission, the Division undertakes traffic safety programs relating to education, enforcement,
and engineering. The bulk of the Division’s funding comes from the federal government,
through the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Funding received by the Division is used to undertake statewide traffic safety programs. It is also dispersed to local,
county and state agencies in the form of traffic safety grants designed to support both educational and enforcement programs — programs designed to reduce traffic-related deaths and
injuries. Additional information about the Division can be obtained at www.njsaferoads.com.

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Divison of Highway Traffic Safety

Highlights
101 Days of Summer—
The boardwalk in Seaside Heights, Ocean
County, served as a backdrop for the
Division’s “101 Days of Summer” kick-off
event in May 2006. Hundreds of law enforcement and traffic safety professionals were in
attendance as the Division announced two
major summer traffic safety initiatives for
2006 — “Click It or Ticket’’ and “You Drink
& Drive, You Lose.” The event was widelypublicized by the media, serving to put the
motoring public on notice of these important
summer season enforcement campaigns.

“You Drink & Drive,
You Lose”—
Participating law enforcement agencies
zeroed in on the problem of intoxicated drivers during a two-week crackdown on drinking and driving staged at the close of the
2006 summer season. Known as the “You
Drink & Drive, You Lose” campaign, the effort began on August 18 and ended on September 4 – the close of the 2006 Labor Day
holiday weekend. A total of 391 police participated in the initiative. Police made a total
of 1,721 Driving While Intoxicated arrests
during the two-week period – an increase
over the 1,583 arrests made during the 2005
campaign. Overall, police issued nearly
70,000 summonses for all violations – moving and non-moving — during the 2006
campaign. Two major public events helped
launch the “You Drink & Drive, You Lose”
initiative. The first took place on August
18th in Times Square in New York City and
featured appearances by law enforcement and
traffic safety professionals from New Jersey,
New York and Connecticut (the Tri-State
Traffic Safety Partners.) A second event took
place on August 25 in Upper Pittsgrove
Township, Salem County. The event took
place at the site where Navy Ensign John
Elliott was killed by a drunk driver in 2000.
John Elliott’s death led to the creation, by his
father William Elliott, of The Hero Campaign
for Designated Drivers. The Division regularly works with the Hero Campaign on
drunk-driving-related awareness efforts.

“Click It or Ticket”—
The 2006 “Click It or Ticket” seat belt enforcement initiative resulted in the issuance
of more than 56,000 seat belt summonses by
participating police agencies. The initiative
was preceded by a vigorous awareness campaign conducted via public events and advertising. Statewide, a total of 441 police agencies took part in “Click It or Ticket” — the
largest number ever. Of the police agencies
involved, 159 had received grants from the
Division enabling them to participate, while
282 other departments used existing funds.
The 2006 “Click It or Ticket” campaign ran
from May 22 through June 4.
Prior to launch of the initiative, the New
Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) determined through scientific surveys that seat
belt usage in New Jersey was approximately
86-percent. NJIT conducted a post-event
survey that showed the rate of seat belt compliance at 90 percent – a new statistical high.
The increase documented in 2006 raised the
bar for statewide seat belt compliance, and
provided momentum for local and state law
enforcement to maintain its seat belt vigilance year around.

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Speed Enforcement
Pilot Project—
In 2006, the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration (NHTSA) requested
that New Jersey take part in a Tri-State Speed
Enforcement Campaign during the month of
July that would serve as a national pilot
project to reduce crashes caused by speeding
drivers. Under the slogan “Obey the Signs or
Pay the Fines,” the Division focused its pilot
program on four counties — Bergen, Essex,
Hudson, and Passaic — to keep it manageable. Grant funding for the project was
awarded to 37 of 122 police agencies within
the four counties. Non-funded agencies were
asked to participate and report their data to
the Division. In all, 94 percent of police departments in the four counties participated.

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety
Public awareness concerning the initiative
was accomplished through public service announcements created by the Division, and
aired via its contract with the New Jersey
Broadcasters Association. By the end of July
2006, participating police agencies had issued
a total of 6,357 speeding summonses. During
the same 31-day period, a total of 26,894 summonses were written for all violations, moving
and non-moving. It is hoped that, upon a final
review of the pilot effort by NHTSA, the program will have proven successful in reducing
average vehicle speeds, as well as speed-related crashes, injuries and deaths.

Pedestrian “Think Safety”
Program—
The Division launched a “Think Safety”
pedestrian protection campaign in 2006 to
address the increasing number of injuries that
occur as Jersey Shore town populations swell
during the summer tourism season and foot,
bicycle and automobile traffic intensifies. In
2006, the Division provided a $40,000 grant
to the South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance

40

(SJTSA) for a public information and awareness campaign targeting the shore-area pedestrian safety problem. The Alliance created
public service announcements and had them
conspicuously displayed on signs and posters, as well as on aerial banners towed from
aircrafts. Working in concert with the Ocean
City Police Department and the SJTSA, the
Division will be adding new elements to this
continuing public safety project each summer. The goal with “Think Safety” is to build
a program over several years that will be as
identifiable – and demonstrably effective —
as the “Click It or Ticket” seat belt initiative.

Divison of Highway Traffic Safety

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Juvenile
Justice
Commission
Created by statute in 1995, the Juvenile Justice Commission is responsible for the care, custody and post-custodial supervision of juveniles committed to the agency by the courts. In a
broader sense, the mission of the JJC is to foster public safety and reduce juvenile delinquency
by holding young people accountable for their lawbreaking, providing them opportunities to
grow and achieve positive change, and to promote their return to the community as productive, law-abiding citizens.

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New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission

Significant Initiatives
Juvenile Detention Alternative
Initiative (JDAI)—
Through its selection by the nationallyrenown Annie E. Casey Foundation as a
model site for the foundation’s Juvenile Detention Alternatives Initiative (JDAI), the JJC
has significantly reduced the number of
young offenders inappropriately confined in
secure detention. Launched in 2004 as a pilot
effort through a $200,000 Casey Foundation
grant, the JDAI was initially implemented in
Atlantic, Camden, Essex and Monmouth
counties. Soon afterward, Hudson County
also implemented JDAI. The initiative has
since been expanded to include Mercer and
Union counties. By the end of 2007, a JDAI
program is expected to be functioning in all
17 New Jersey counties that operate juvenile
detention facilities.
JDAI ensures that youth who are considered a public safety risk or a risk of flight
are detained. JDAI also provides detention
alternatives — for example, electronic
monitoring, in-home detention, shelter care/
host homes, and evening reporting centers
— for youth that are not a public safety risk.
JDAI has generated encouraging results.
It has helped to address public safety needs
while placing select juveniles in alternative
settings that are more appropriate to their
individual needs and circumstances. As a
result of the initiative, on any given day in
2006, there were 215 fewer youth in detention centers compared to the number in
2003, representing a decrease of more than
43 percent. (The actual numbers are as follows: 284 youth in 2006, compared to 499
youth in 2003.)
While the JDAI effort is spearheaded by
the JJC, it is founded on a collaborative approach involving stakeholders from the
community, from various levels of law enforcement, and from the human services, juvenile justice and judicial arenas.

The success of JDAI in New Jersey was
featured in the July 2006 issue of the Casey
Foundation’s nationally-read JDAI Newsletter. The JDAI continues to be supported
through grants from the Baltimore-based
Casey Foundation, and from the Governor’s
Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention
(JJDP) Committee.

Expansion of PHOENIX
Gang Intervention/Prevention
Curriculum—

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Developed with the mindset that gang involvement is an adolescent addiction, the
PHOENIX Gang Intervention/Prevention
Curriculum deals with the social and psychological issues underlying the addiction. In
2006, the JJC expanded the PHOENIX curriculum beyond JJC walls by collaborating
with educators in the Newark, Trenton and
Camden public school districts and training
them in the program. In Camden, educators
finished their PHOENIX-related training in
September 2006, and books developed to
support the curriculum were delivered in December. Ultimately, plans are to have the
PHOENIX curriculum taught in 24 Camden
city schools. Educators in Newark completed
their PHOENIX training in November 2006
and, as of the first week of December, had begun teaching the PHOENIX curriculum to
students in two elementary schools identified
as the district’s most gang-involved. Eventually, plans are to have the PHOENIX curriculum delivered in 54 Newark schools. In Trenton, educators completed their PHOENIX-related training in September 2006, and received the curriculum-based textbooks as of
December. Ultimately, PHOENIX is expected
to be taught in 21 Trenton schools.

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New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Transition of Life Skills
& Leadership Academy/
Project USE—
In 2006, the JJC launched a plan to convert its Life Skills & Leadership Academy –
historically a “boot camp” style program for
young offenders moving toward parole – to
use as a minimum security residential home
for juveniles. As part of the initiative, the
JJC’s Edison Prep Residential Community
Home in Trenton was targeted for relocation
to the former Life Skills and Leadership
Academy site in Tabernacle, Burlington
County. Edison Prep was established in 1991
as a partnership between the JJC and Project
USE (Urban, Suburban Environments). The
move from Trenton to the sprawling Tabernacle site was expected to enable Edison
Prep, its partner Project USE, and the JJC to
pioneer new and innovative programs in
2007 that would address the educational, social, therapeutic and recreational needs of
young offenders. Specifically, the move was
expected to increase the number of juveniles
that could be housed in the Edison Prep/
Project USE program from 24 to 50, and to
afford those 50 residents a chance to take part
in experiences not previously available to
them. The move of the Edison Prep/Project
USE program to Tabernacle was expected to
vacate the facility known as the Florence
Crittenton House in Trenton. Phase three of
the transition effort was scheduled to involve
refurbishing of the Crittenton building to allow for the housing, beginning in 2007, of 24
young people in a transitional living arrangement. Those assigned to the Crittenton facility are young people preparing to return to
their home communities, and have earned
placement in the program. Under the program, JJC residents 18 or older participate in
work initiatives run through a cooperative
venture between JJC and the state Department of Treasury. For example, Treasury
employs 11 young men trained at the State
warehouse in Hamilton. Under this initia-

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tive, young offenders are employed six
hours each day working as furniture restorers, computer technicians and general warehouse helpers. The JJC participants are paid
a regular wage, and will ultimately receive a
certificate outlining the skills they learned in
order to help them obtain future employment. The goal is to help young people who
have made wrong choices turn the corner,
and take real steps toward positive change

Suicide Prevention Initiative—
The JJC continued its efforts in 2006 to
eliminate juvenile suicides in 2006 through
development of the Suicide Prevention Handbook for Juvenile Justice Commission Facilities and Programs. The handbook incorporates recommended “best practices” and National Commission on Correctional Health
Care standards for such critical issues as staff
training, communication, intervention and
housing and supervision of juveniles.

Prison Rape Elimination Act—
In 2006, the JJC partnered with the Office
of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP) to implement public law 10879, otherwise known as the Prison Rape
Elimination Act (PREA). Signed into law by
the President in 2003, the federal legislation
seeks to analyze and eradicate the prison rape
problem in all juvenile and adult facilities.
Working closely with the National Institute
of Corrections and OJJDP, the Juvenile Justice
Commission has appointed a compliance
monitor to ensure its compliance with the
law by inspecting facilities on a regular basis
and by coordinating PREA-related awareness
events. A multi-disciplinary group consisting
of representatives from the JJC, numerous
law enforcement agencies, child service agencies and others convened to discuss implementation of PREA.

New Jersey Juvenile Justice Commission

Juvenile Reentry
Programs
The year 2006 was a busy and exciting
one for the JJC’s Juvenile Parole and Transitional Services (JPATS) unit, the unit responsible for overseeing reentry of juveniles to the
community at large. Many challenges confront
young people returning home following their
commitment to the JJC. The JPATS unit is dedicated to working collaboratively with family
members and community stakeholders to
ensure that juveniles who are returning home
have an opportunity to learn and grow, and to
become productive, law-abiding citizens.

Governor’s Office
Reentry Collaboration—
The JJC remained involved throughout
2006 in a collaborative reentry effort between
the Governor’s Office, the New Jersey Institute for Social Justice, the Department of
Corrections and the New Jersey State Parole
Board focused on reentry issues confronting
both juvenile offenders and adult prisoners.

Project Safe Neighborhood—
Project Safe Neighborhood involves a
partnership between the JJC and the Mercer
and Passaic vicinage probation offices, the
Trenton and Paterson police departments
and the Division of Criminal Justice. The
various partners supervise high-risk probationers and parolees at their homes during
“non-traditional” hours to ensure compliance with the conditions of parole and probation. The goal of the initiative is to reduce
juvenile offenders’ involvement with guns,
drugs and street gangs.

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0

Rubino Academy—
Residents of the JJC’s Edison Prep Residential Community Home enrolled in the
Rubino Academy while still attending Edison
Prep. The Rubino Academy, an alternative
school located at Mercer County Community
College, provides juveniles with exposure to
college life. Residents continue their enrollment at the Rubino Academy upon release to
parole and work toward enrollment in Mercer
County Community College.

Juvenile Justice Reentry Initiative
(JJRI)/Serious and Violent
Offender Reentry Initiative—
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Serious
and Violent Offender Reentry Initiative has
provided funding for two model sites –
Camden and Essex counties. In both locations, the JJRI secures post-release services
for juvenile parolees who have been identified as serious and violent offenders — many
of them involved with gangs, drugs and/or
crimes involving drugs. In 2006, the JJRI
Camden project continued to be a major focus of the Attorney General’s Safer Cities
Project in the city of Camden. In Essex
County, the project continued in 2006 to be
the product of collaborative effort involving
the Police Institute of Rutgers University, the
Essex County Youth Service Commission,
Essex County Probation, local law enforcement and local social service agencies.

45

New Jersey Office of The Attorney General • Department of Law & Public Safety

Division of
Elections
Officially established in 1979, the Division of Elections is responsible for accepting all
nominating petitions for statewide offices, inspecting and reviewing those petitions for validity,
and managing the petition challenge process. The Division also certifies candidates for the primary and general elections, certifies election results, examines and certifies voting equipment
and reviews the physical accessibility of polling sites. Other duties of the Division include the
maintenance of election district maps and the provision of voter registration forms to the 21
county commissioners of registration. The Division also provides assistance to county-level
election officials, county clerks and to the public on administrative matters pertaining to voting and the elections process. By law, the Attorney General is the State’s Chief Election Official.
Additional information about the Division of Elections is available by visiting
www.NJElections.org.

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Division of Elections

2006 Highlights
Notice of Proposed Re-Adoption
of Election Rules—
Rules pertaining to the administration of
elections in New Jersey were scheduled to expire in April 2006. That resulted in a proposal by the Division to re-adopt, with keynote amendments, the state’s election rules.
The amendments typically involved changing
regulations in order to ensure compliance
with the federal Help America Vote Act of
2002. Following the requisite public notification process prescribed by state statute, the
proposed election rules and amendments
were adopted in November 2006. The rules
will have a positive impact on elections
throughout New Jersey. Specifically, the rules
address such concerns as the voter registration process, procedures for declaring party
affiliation, and the deadline for submitting
absentee ballot applications. The amendments also set forth guidelines pertaining to
the accessibility of polling places for the disabled, and provide for creation of a “Voting
Accessibility Advisory Committee” in each
county. The responsibilities of the Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee include, but
are not limited to, inspection of all polling
places, reporting to the Attorney General on
the status of polling place accessibility in their
counties and what measures will be undertaken to ensure compliance with the mandates
of the Americas With Disabilities Act of 1990.

Chronological Elections Guide—
The Division made available in 2006 a
new, expanded edition of the New Jersey
Chronological Elections Guide. The Chronological Elections Guide sets forth important
deadlines for the major elections held in New
Jersey. Those elections include the annual
school board elections held in April, the municipal elections held in certain non-partisan
municipalities in May, the primary elections
held in June, and the general elections held
in November.

In addition to a schedule of key election
dates, the Chronological Elections Guide contains an outline of the specific duties of New
Jersey’s various election officials, and includes
informative sections regarding school board
and non-partisan municipal elections. The
guide also includes congressional and legislative district maps to familiarize the reader
with voting districts statewide, as well as a
glossary of election terms and other useful information. The Chronological Elections
Guide is available in both English and Spanish language version by visiting the Division
of Elections Web site at www.NJElections.org.
Printed copies re also available by mail and
can be requested by calling the Division of
Elections at (609) 292-3760.

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0

Compilation of Birth Date Data
for Statewide Voter System—
The Division, working in conjunction with
the Attorney General’s HAVA Unit, continued
in 2006 with tasks related to implementation
of the Statewide Voter Registration System.
Specifically, the Division undertook the job
of soliciting and processing updated birth
date information to ensure proper maintenance
of voter records as required under the Help
America Vote Act. The information regarding
birth dates for registered voters was made a
requirement following enactment of the Help
America Vote Act. Prior to its enactment, birth
date information was not required. In all, Division of Elections staff processed 445,000
birth date responses from voters in 2006. Processing included reviewing the materials submitted, scanning the information and forwarding it to the appropriate county Commissioner
of Registration so that the individual’s official
voting record could be updated.

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