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Jersey City Times Staff

Rec Department Clerk Gets Three Years

January 27, 2021/in header, Latest News, News /by Jersey City Times Staff

A former payroll clerk and senior analyst for the Jersey City Department of Recreation will be sentenced to three years in state prison under a plea agreement announced today by Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal. Angela Rivera, 41, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree theft by unlawful taking. She admitted to stealing approximately $80,000 by fraudulently inflating payroll hours for certain relatives and associates. She will be required to pay full restitution to the city and will be permanently barred from public employment. Sentencing is scheduled for April 9.

News that a Department of Recreation official was adjusting payroll records to pay the official’s friends and family for work they did not perform was first reported by the Jersey Journal in April of 2018 based upon an anonymous source. At the time, city spokeswoman Hannah Peterson dismissed the accusations as “gossip” from a disgruntled employee. Rivera continued to work for the city until January of 2020, when she was fired following her arrest.

The department has been beset by scandal and has changed leadership repeatedly. In 2015, Director Ryan Strother was terminated when he refused to fire a registered sex offender he had hired. Director Kevin Williamson was disciplined for taking a city car home that was later stolen. Director Arthur Williams was suspended over his use of a city car and reportedly continued to receive pay from his previous employer, the Board of Education, while working for for the city. Rivera’s theft occurred during both Williamson’s and William’s tenures.

Last year four Jersey City Recreation Department employees filed federal lawsuits against a Williams and the city claiming age and gender discrimination.

In 2019, the city restructured the department and placed an emphasis on youth development.  The name was changed to the Department of Recreation and Youth Development, containing two divisions: the Division of Recreation and the Division of Enrichment. It is now led by Lucinda McLaughlin.

The restructuring led ten former Recreation Department employees who had been reassigned, to bring a federal race and age discrimination case against the city. That case, later dismissed, became an issue in Kansas City which recently hired Jersey City’s former Business Administrator, Brian Platt.

Between December, 2016 and February 2018, Rivera inflated payroll hours for certain former part-time and seasonal employees who are her relatives or personal associates.  Some of the inflated paychecks were deposited into Rivera’s personal account after she forged the employees’ signatures to endorse the checks over to her.  Others were deposited into accounts controlled by the employees named on the checks.

“As a payroll clerk, Rivera was trusted to maintain accurate employee records and ensure that city funds were properly spent, but instead she falsified records to steal tens of thousands of dollars,” said Attorney General Grewal. “This type of public corruption can be very costly to taxpayers, as this case demonstrates, and we’re determined to hold those who commit such crimes accountable.”

The four relatives and associates who took part in the scheme are Ashley Cuevas, 24, Gabriel Villanueva, 42, and Carlos Huertas, 34, all of Jersey City, and Alfred Coriano, 41, of Bayonne. They will enter a pre-trial program requiring them to pay full restitution. If they successfully complete the program, the charges against them will be dismissed.

 

Tags: Department of Recreation, jersey city, Jersey City News
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News Briefs

Assemblyman Nicholas A. Chiaravalloti (D-Hudson) is joining Governor Phil Murphy at Hudson County Community College in Jersey City for the signing of Bill A4410 / S2743, which will permanently codify the Community College Opportunity Grant Program into law. Students enrolled in any of the state’s 18 community colleges may be able to have their tuition waived. Students must be enrolled in at least six credits per semester and have an adjusted gross income of $0 -$65,000 in order to be considered. 

Jersey City Library Director Jeffrey Trzeciak is leaving to take a job in his hometown, Dayton, Ohio after serving for just 15 months.

An ordinance creating a Civilian Complaint Review Board (CCRB) scheduled for introduction this week has been pulled, pending further discussions.

Ahmad Broadway, age 26, of Jersey City, pleaded guilty to charges related to his involvement in the January 11, 2019 shooting inside the Newport Centre Mall in Jersey City that injured two people. 

The Hudson County Regional Arson Task Force and the Jersey City Fire Department are investigating a two-alarm fire that killed an 84-year-old woman Thursday morning at 270 Clerk Street in Jersey City. 

Hudson County Prosecutor Esther Suarez has announced the indictment of three people in connection with the July 6, 2020 fatal shooting of 17-year-old Tyeah Garner on Rutgers Avenue in Jersey City. Heavenley Cherry, 19, and Jahquell Carter, 25, both of Jersey City, were charged with Murder and other related crimes. Izmae Tinker-Trent, 19, of Jersey City, was charged with Hindering a Murder Investigation.  

The Jersey City Education Association has started a GoFundMe campaign to support the family of 11-year-old Desire Reid and eight-month old Kenyon Robinson who died in a house fire on Martin Luther King Drive on Wednesday night. Here is the link.

Vaccine-eligible individuals can make an appointment online by visiting hudsoncovidvax.org.

The 2021 tree planting applications are available. If you have an empty tree pit on your block or a street you can fill out the form and the city’s arborists will handle it.  bit.ly/adoptatreespri…

Keep abreast of Jersey City Covid-19 statistics here.

Governor Murphy has launched a “Covid Transparency Website” where New Jerseyans can track state expenditures related to Covid.  Go here.

For info on vaccinations, call Vaccination Call Center and our operators will assist you with scheduling one: 855-568-0545

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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