Time to make the D'OH! nuts. :)

Trevor Williams of Jersey City pleads guilty to bribery cover up

TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
Friday, 20 April 2012

Two sheriff?s officers have pleaded guilty in scheme involving the bounty hunters

Trevor Williams of Jersey City, a bounty hunter, pleaded guilty Friday to trying to cover up commercial bribes that his boss, another bounty hunter, allegedly paid to an insurance company executive.

Two Hudson County sheriff?s officers previously pleaded guilty to official misconduct charges and are awaiting sentencing for assisting the bounty hunter, Adel Mikhaeil, 47, of Jersey City, in an alleged criminal scheme. The charges are the result of an investigation by the state Division of Criminal Justice, the State Police and Hudson County prosecutor?s office.

State Attorney General Jeffrey S. Chiesa said Williams, 39, who worked for Mikhaeil, pleaded guilty to third-degree hindering apprehension or prosecution and fourth-degree fabricating physical evidence before state Superior Court Judge Stuart A. Minkowitz in Morristown. Under a plea agreement, the state will recommend that Williams be sentenced to 364 days in a county jail and a term of probation.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony A. Picione is prosecuting the case. Minkowitz scheduled sentencing for Williams for May 25.

In pleading guilty, Williams admitted that he helped to cover up $92,000 in commercial bribes that Mikhaeil allegedly paid to an insurance company executive in return for business. The executive, John Sullivan, 45, a former vice president for Sirius America Insurance Co., pleaded guilty on May 30, 2008 to commercial bribery and financial facilitation of criminal activity. The state will recommend that he be sentenced to 364 days in the county jail and a term of probation. Another employee of Mikhaeil?s, George Formoe, 45, of Ridgefield Park, also pleaded guilty to covering up the payments. He faces probation.

Charges remain pending against Mikhaeil, who was indicted on Sept. 29, 2008. Minkowitz Fridayt scheduled Mikhaeil to go to trial on May 30. Mikhaeil is also charged with paying sheriff?s officers to sign false documents called ?body receipts? indicating that he had captured fugitives who, in reality, had been apprehended by authorities. By claiming he caught the fugitives and presenting the false body receipts, Mikhaeil collected higher fees from insurance companies that insured the fugitives? bail bonds. He faces second-degree counts of conspiracy, official misconduct, offer of unlawful benefit to public servant for official behavior, commercial bribery and money laundering, among other charges.

While a bounty hunter does receive a fee for locating a fugitive who is already in custody ? what is called a ?paper transfer? ? the fee is lower than for a ?physical apprehension,? when the bounty hunter actually locates and arrests a fugitive who is at large. The fraudulent body receipts also had the effect of reducing the amount of bail forfeited, resulting in savings for the insurance companies that insured the bail bonds but a loss of funds to the counties where the fugitive jumped bail and the state government, which divide the forfeited funds.

On July 14, 2009, former sheriff?s officer William Chadwick, 56, of Keansburg, pleaded guilty before Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown to second-degree official misconduct for signing false body receipts for Mikhaeil. The state will recommend that Chadwick be sentenced to five years in state prison. Chadwick forfeited $5,500 in illegal cash gifts that he admitted receiving from Mikhaeil.

On Jan. 12, 2010, a second former sheriff?s officer, Alberto Vasquez, 43, of Apex, N.C., pleaded guilty before Ahto to third-degree pattern of official misconduct for signing false body receipts for Mikhaeil. The state will recommend that Vasquez be sentenced to 270 days in a county jail and a term of probation. He forfeited $3,500 in illegal cash gifts that he admitted receiving from Mikhael. Both former sheriff?s officers will be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey.

On Feb. 5, 2009, another person named in the indictment, James Irizarry, 43, of Mohnton, Pa., pleaded guilty to commercial bribery before Ahto. Irizarry admitted he took bribes from Mikhaeil in return for hiring Mikhaeil to recover fugitives for his former employer and for approving Mikhaeil?s invoices for payment. Irizarry worked for a firm that locates fugitives for insurance companies that insure bail bonds. The state will recommend that he be sentenced to 364 days in the county jail and a term of probation. He forfeited $5,000 Mikhaeil gave him.

The defendants were prosecuted by Deputy Attorneys General Picione and Jeffrey Manis. They led the investigation along with Det. Sgt. Myles Cappiello and Det. Sgt. Neil Hickey of the State Police Official Corruption North Unit; Det. Scott Donlan and Analyst Alison Callery of the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau; and Det. Sgt. Mary Reinke of the Hudson prosecutor?s office.

http://www.newjerseynewsroom.com/stat ... uilty-to-bribery-cover-up

Former Hudson sheriff's officer pleads guilty to official misconduct in bounty hunter case

TUESDAY, 12 JANUARY 2010 18:07

A former Hudson County sheriff's officer pleaded guilty Tuesday to signing false documents so a bounty hunter could collect additional fees for fugitives he didn't catch. He is the second sheriff's officer to plead guilty as a result of an investigation into alleged fraud involving Jersey City bounty hunter Adel Mikhaeil.

According to state Criminal Justice Director Deborah Gramiccioni, Alberto Vasquez, 40, of Apex, N.C., a former detective with the Hudson sheriff's office, pleaded guilty to an accusation charging him with third-degree pattern of official misconduct before state Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto in Morristown.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Vasquez be sentenced to serve 270 days in the county jail as a condition of a term of probation. In addition, he must forfeit $3,500 in illegal cash gifts that he admitted receiving from the bounty hunter. Vasquez will also be permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey and must cooperate in the ongoing prosecution of Mikhaeil, 45, and other defendants in the case.

The guilty plea was taken by Deputy Attorney General Anthony A. Picione, deputy chief of the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.
In pleading guilty, Vasquez admitted that he signed documents known as body receipts that falsely indicated that Mikhaeil caught certain fugitives, when the fugitives had actually been arrested by law enforcement officers. He admitted Mikhaeil paid him for signing false body receipts and also for providing official information about fugitives, including arrest photos.

Another former Hudson sheriff's officer, William Chadwick, 54, of Keansburg, pleaded guilty on July 14, to second-degree official misconduct for signing false body receipts for Mikhaeil. The state will recommend that he be sentenced to five years in state prison. He forfeited $5,500 in illegal cash gifts that he admitted receiving from Mikhaeil.

Chadwick, Vasquez and Mikhaeil were indicted on Oct. 1, 2008 along with Kenneth Sisk, 49, of Bayonne, a captain who was in charge of homicide detectives in the Hudson prosecutor's office, and two other individuals. In the indictment, Sisk was charged with signing two false body receipts. The charges against Sisk are pending.

The indictment resulted from an investigation by the state Police, the Division of Criminal Justice and the Hudson prosecutor's office.

By claiming he caught the fugitives and presenting the false body receipts, Mikhaeil collected higher fees from insurance companies that insured the fugitives' bail bonds.

While a bounty hunter does receive a fee for locating a fugitive who is already in custody - what is called a "paper transfer" - the fee is lower than for a "physical apprehension," when the bounty hunter actually locates and arrests a fugitive who is at large. The fraudulent body receipts also had the effect of reducing the amount of bail forfeited, resulting in savings for the insurance companies that insured the bail bonds but a loss of funds to the counties where the fugitive jumped bail and the state of New Jersey, which divide the forfeited funds.

On Feb. 5, another defendant named in the indictment, James Irizarry, 43, of Mohnton, Pa., pleaded guilty to commercial bribery before Judge Ahto. Irizarry admitted he took bribes from Mikhaeil in return for hiring Mikhaeil to recover fugitives for his former employer and for approving Mikhaeil's invoices for payment. Irizarry worked for a firm that locates fugitives for insurance companies that insure bail bonds. The state will recommend that he be sentenced to probation, conditioned on him serving a year in jail and forfeiting $5,000 Mikhaeil gave him.

Trevor Williams, 37, of Jersey City, a bounty hunter employed by Mikhaeil, was charged in the indictment with helping to cover up $92,000 in commercial bribes that Mikhaeil allegedly paid to an insurance company executive in return for business. The charges against Williams are pending.

The insurance company executive, John Sullivan, 43, the former vice president for Sirius America Insurance Company, pleaded guilty on May 30, 2008 to commercial bribery and financial facilitation of criminal activity. He faces a year in jail as a condition of a sentence of probation. Another employee of Mikhaeil's, George Formoe, 43, of Ridgefield Park, pleaded guilty to covering up those payments and faces probation.

The case is being prosecuted by Picione and Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Manis. They led the investigation along with Det. Sgt. Myles Cappiello and Det. Sgt. Neil Hickey of the State Police Official Corruption North Unit; Det. Scott Donlan and Analyst Alison Callery of the Corruption Bureau; and Det. Sgt. Mary Reinke of the Hudson prosecutor's office. The Hudson sheriff's office also assisted in the investigation.

? TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

2 Mikhaeil charges dismissed

Thursday, January 08, 2009
By TOM SHORTELL
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Charges of witness tampering and terroristic threats against a Jersey City bounty hunter were dismissed late Tuesday afternoon, but he still remains entangled in a bail fraud case.

The New Jersey Attorney General's Office dismissed without prejudice two charges against Adel Mikhaeil, 44, meaning the state can recharge Mikhaeil in the future. Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, said the state is continuing to investigate the charges, and that the office does not comment on ongoing investigations.

Mikhaeil spent 28 days in jail this summer after Angel Santos, 32, claimed Mikhaeil had threatened to kill him. Santos told police Mikhaeil was with a Jersey Journal photographer and reporter when he allegedly made the threat.

But photographer Reena Rose Sibayan and reporter Michaelangelo Conte signed sworn affidavits that Mikhaeil was not present when they had gone to interview Santos at his home. A store clerk also signed an affidavit that Santos was shopping at an electronics store at the time Santos said the incident occurred.

Santos has pleaded guilty to a number of crimes, including shooting a man in the head. He has managed to have his sentences reduced and suspended each time because he has acted as an informant for law enforcement officials.

"This guy is nothing but a liar," said Mikhaeil, who accumulated more than $30,000 in legal fees from the case. "This guy is really, really bad news, and someone needs to put a stop to it."

Mikhaeil said he plans to bring charges against Santos for filing a false report, and added he is considering a civil suit against the Jersey City Police Department as well. "It was lousy police work. I thank God that it was only 28 days instead of 28 years," he said.

A man who answered Santos' phone yesterday refused to identify himself and would not comment on the dismissal.

Santos is scheduled to testify against Mikhaeil in a bail fraud case in Morris County. Mikhaeil is accused of paying off sheriff's officers so he could falsely take credit for capturing fugitives.

"I cannot wait to go to trial in Morris County. I hope he will be the star witness in the case," Mikhaeil said. "They can put him in a suit, a gold chain, a cross, but he's still Angel the killer."

That trial is scheduled to start next month.

one more article:

3 lawmen swept up in probe of manhunter
Fugitive-chaser allegedly was given falsified papers

Thursday, October 02, 2008
BY RICK HEPP AND MARGARET McHUGH
Star-Ledger Staff

An ongoing state investigation of a flamboyant Jersey City bounty hunter yesterday ensnared the chief homicide detective in the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office as well as two former county sheriff's officers.

Capt. Kenneth Sisk of the prosecutor's office and former sheriff's officers William Chadwick and Alberto Vasquez were charged with giving "body receipts" to bounty hunter Adel Mikhaeil to make it appear he brought 15 fugitives to justice when they were actually arrested by law enforcement officers, according to a grand jury indictment announced yesterday.

In return for six receipts, Mikhaeil gave Chadwick, who served as captain of the sheriff's fugitive unit, a total of $5,500, prosecutors said.

Mikhaeil used the receipts to collect higher fees from insurance companies that had posted bail for the fugitives and were paying for their capture, Deputy Attorney General Anthony Piccione told Superior Court Judge Salem Ahto when the officers appeared in his Morristown courtroom.

The three officers, whose bail was set at $30,000, face charges of conspiracy, official misconduct, theft and falsifying records. Chadwick faces an additional charge of accepting a bribe. They each face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Mikhaeil also was charged with bribing James Irizarry in return for work from his former company, which locates fugitives for companies that insure bail bonds.

Irizarry of Mohnton, Pa., was charged with commercial bribery and conspiracy. He gave a taped statement to investigators admitting he received more than $5,000 from Mikhaeil, Piccione said.

The indictment is the latest step by the State Police and state Division of Criminal Justice to zero in on Mikhaeil, a cunning self-promoter who has nabbed hundreds of fugitives.

Mikhaeil was charged in January with paying an insurance company executive $92,550 to get work for him and two other bounty hunters. The three also were accused of trying to persuade the executive to mislead investigators and creating and backdating documents to cover their tracks.

Former Delos Insurance Co. vice president John Sullivan of Parsippany and one of the bounty hunters, George Formoe of Ridgefield Park, already have pleaded guilty and agreed to turn state's evidence. The other bounty hunter, Trevor Williams of Jersey City, was indicted yesterday.

"I'm glad they indicted us so we can answer our charges," Mikhaeil said in a telephone interview. He was freed on $50,000 bail following the January charges and did not appear in court yesterday.

Sisk of Bayonne arrived at the courthouse with a number of firearms he was required to turn over following the charges. But Chadwick of Keansburg, who retired in September 2007 after 25 years on the job, insisted he no longer owns any weapons, although the state's records showed otherwise.

"I'm in enough trouble without messing around with handguns," he said.

Vasquez, a former detective in the sheriff's fugitive unit who resigned in February, has relocated to North Carolina, where he works as a security guard at a university, his attorney said.

Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, whose office was involved in the investigation, said it was a "sad" situation. "Of course, all of the defendants, including Ken Sisk, are presumed innocent," he said.

Hudson County Sheriff Juan Perez said the alleged conduct happened before he took office in January and that he "provided any information needed" when contacted by state and county authorities.

Mikhaeil, meanwhile, has other legal troubles as part of this case. Jersey City police charged him Aug. 7 with threatening to kill a witness if he testified -- a charge denied by Mikhaeil, who said he has receipts from a restaurant to prove he wasn't there.

3 articles follow:

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Homicide squad's top cop, 2 ex-sheriff's officers surrender in fraud case

by Michaelangelo Conte/The Jersey Journal
Wednesday October 01, 2008, 4:55 PM

The top cop in the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office homicide squad and two former Hudson County sheriff's officers surrendered today on official misconduct charges accusing them of falsifying records to help a bounty hunter collect more money, officials said.

Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Capt. Kenneth Sisk, 48, of Bayonne and former Hudson County Sheriff's Officers Capt. William Chadwick, 52, of Keansburg, and Alberto Vasquez, 39, of Apex, N.C., surrendered this afternoon in Morris County.

"We charge that these three officers betrayed their oath to uphold the law by conspiring with this bounty hunter so he could falsely take credit for capturing fugitives who had been arrested by law enforcement," state Attorney General Anne Milgram said.

The indictment charges the trio with official misconduct, falsifying records, theft by deception and conspiracy, while Chadwick was additionally charged with acceptance of unlawful benefit by a public servant, Attorney General's Office Spokesman Peter Aseltine said.

The bounty hunter, 43-year-old Adel Mikhaeil of Jersey City, is charged with multiple counts including official misconduct, offering unlawful benefit to a public servant for official action, commercial bribery, witness tampering, fabricating evidence and falsifying records, officials said.

Trevor Williams, 35, of Jersey City, one of Mikhaeil's bounty hunter crew, also faces numerous counts including charges he helped Mikhaeil cover up $92,000 in commercial bribes allegedly paid to an insurance company executive in return for business.

Finally, James Irizarry, 41, of Mohnton, Penn., who worked for a company that helps locate fugitives for an insurance company that insures bail bonds, is charged with conspiracy and commercial bribery, officials said.

The indictment alleges that from 2003 to 2006 Vasquez signed nine false "body receipts" for Mikhaeil, Chadwick signed six and Sisk signed two, officials said, adding that Chadwick received cash gifts form Mikhaeil. Using the false body receipts Mikhaeil was able to collect higher fees form the insurance, officials said.

When a bounty hunter locates a fugitive who is already in custody he makes what is referred to as a "paper transfer" and receives a fee which is lower than for a "physical transfer" in which he actually turns over the prisoner, officials said. At the time, the insurer paid 7 percent of the bail bond amount to the bounty hunter for a physical transfer and 4 percent for a paper transfer, officials said.

Chadwick became a sheriff's officer on Oct. 15, 1981 and retired as a detective captain on Sept. 1 of last year, officials said, adding that at the time of his retirement he commanded the Sheriff's Office Detective Bureau.

Vasquez joined the Sheriffs Office on Sept. 13, 1999 and resigned Dec. 19 of last year, citing personal reasons, officials said.

Sisk has been an officer at the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office for more than 25 years, said Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio. He is the son of former Bayonne Police Chief James Sisk.

"It's a sad day but all defendants, including Ken Sisk, are presumed innocent," said DeFazio, whose office initiated the probe.

Referring to Sisk, the prosecutor said, "Since an indictment has been returned, it's likely there will be a suspension."

Hudson County Sheriff Juan M. Perez said his office was contacted by state and county law enforcement as part of the investigation and provided any information needed.

"Any actions or allegations or circumstances brought to light by the grand jury were prior to my taking office on Jan. 1, 2008," Perez said.
==============================

The bounty hunter, Mikhaeil's life 'made difficult' as charges swirl

Thursday, October 02, 2008
By PAUL KOEPP
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

The man at the center of yesterday's bail fraud court case spent nearly a month in jail recently on charges that two Jersey Journal staffers told officials were false.

Adel Mikhaeil, 43, a Jersey City bounty hunter, is accused of witness tampering and making terrorist threats against 32-year-old Angel Santos of Jersey City, a witness in the fraud case. The charges are based on a police report Santos filed that alleged Mikhaeil threatened him in the presence of a Jersey Journal photographer.

The charges, which are being handled by the state Attorney General's Office, and Mikhaeil's resulting 28-day stay in the Hudson County jail have left him "outraged," his Morristown attorney, Jim Barletti, said after a bail hearing in early September.

"They have made his life as difficult as they can for a long time," Barletti said.

According to the police report, Santos alleges Mikhaeil made the threats the morning of Aug. 7 outside Santos' Lexington Avenue home while with a Jersey Journal photographer. Santos told police he had been alerted to their presence when his landlord called to say a white man was asking about him at the building's front door.

Santos said when he went outside Mikhaeil yelled at him from the back seat of the photographer's car, calling him a "rat" and saying he would be "dead by the end of the month," according to the report.

But the photographer, Reena Rose Sibayan, and a reporter, Michaelangelo Conte, have both signed sworn affidavits saying that the incident never happened.

Conte and Sibayan were at the house that day to try to get a comment from Santos for a story about suspended sentences for a number of crimes, and said Mikhaeil was neither involved nor present, and there was no answer at the door.

A spokesman for the attorney general says the witness tampering and terroristic threats charges are still pending despite the affidavits.

Mikhaeil, of Jewett Avenue, was arrested Aug. 8 at a court appearance in Morris County for the fraud case, records show.

Mikhaeil's family posted the $100,000 cash bail, but Superior Court Judge Melvin Kracov, sitting in Jersey City, said at the bail hearing that he wouldn't accept it until he saw a signed $100,000 lien on a home Mikhaeil owns in Pennsylvania, as added assurance he would not flee.

"I'm giving you some faith here," the judge said at the bail hearing, adding that Mikhaeil must report to a probation officer once a week. "I'll be very embarrassed if you take off. If you're ever arrested, you will never see the light of day. You will rot in jail. The bail will be so high you won't be able to count it."

Santos, meanwhile, pleaded guilty to killing a man and to a drug-dealing charge in Hudson County last year as well as to burglary and criminal restraint charges in Atlantic County recently and hasn't served a day of his sentences, which have all been suspended.

Mikhaeil told Kracov he has "100 percent proof" that he is innocent of all the charges against him.

Santos is set to testify against Mikhaeil in the fraud case, said Peter Aseltine, the Attorney General's Office spokesman. Santos and Mikhaeil worked together as bounty hunters for a time, Barletti said, but Santos is not charged in the fraud case.

Santos could not be reached for comment.

================================

Officer faces misconduct charge

By Ed Johnson ? Asbury Park Press ? October 2, 2008

A Keansburg man was among three Hudson County law officers indicted for official misconduct, the state Attorney General's Office announced on Wednesday.

William Chadwick, 52, had been a captain with the Hudson County Sheriff's Office. Wednesday afternoon he stood before Superior Court Judge Salem V. Ahto, sitting in Morristown, and was arraigned on charges of official misconduct, theft by deception, falsifying officials records and accepting illegal gifts. He was released after posting $30,000 bail.

He faces as much as 10 years in prison if convicted of the charges.

Chadwick, along with another former sheriff's officer, Alberto Vasquez, 39, of Apex, N.C., and Kevin Sisk, 48, of Bayonne, who had been the captain commanding the Hudson County Prosecutor's Office Homicide Bureau, were all accused of falsifying documents known as body receipts to let a bounty hunter collect greater fees than he was due, officials said.

Sisk is suspended but remains with the agency.

The fugitives had all been arrested by law officers, but the body receipts made it appear that the bounty hunters had made the apprehension, according to the indictment.

"We charge that these three officers betrayed their oath to uphold the law by conspiring with this bounty hunter so he could falsely take credit for capturing fugitives who had been arrested by law enforcement," Milgram said. "This fraud was committed at the expense of state courts and insurance companies that insure bail bonds. Meanwhile, the bounty hunter allegedly bribed insurance industry employees to steer him more business."

The bounty hunter, Adel Mikhaeil, 43, of Jersey City, and an employee, Trevor Williams, 35, of Jersey City, were each indicted on charges of theft by deception, criminal conspiracy, falsifying records, witness tampering and fabricating physical evidence, Milgram said.

In addition, James Irizarry, 41, of Mohnton, Pa., was charged with criminal conspiracy and commercial bribery for his role in the scheme, prosecutors said. Irizarry was accused of using his position with a company that issued bail insurance bonds to steer fugitive investigations to Mikhaeil, Milgram said. Prosecutors allege he pocketed $2,600 in bribes for his role in the scheme.

From 2003 to 2006, Chadwick, the sheriff's captain, allegedly signed six false body receipts for Mikhaeil. Vasquez, a former detective, allegedly signed nine, according to the indictment. Sisk, the homicide captain, allegedly signed two false body receipts.

Chadwick and the other officers are accused of receiving cash gifts from Mikhaeil in return, said Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the state Attorney General's Office. The value of the gifts was only cited as worth "in excess of $200," in the indictment.

By claiming he caught the fugitives and presenting the false body receipts, Mikhaeil collected higher fees from the insurance companies that insured the fugitives' bail bonds, prosecutors said. The indictments in the case had been handed up in Trenton on Monday, officials said, but they were not unsealed until all of the accused were in custody. Chadwick, Sisk, Vasquez and Irizarry each surrendered to authorities at the courthouse in Morristown. All were released on bail. Mikhaeil and Williams had been arrested prior to the indictments being returned and their bail was continued, Aseltine said.