Judge Throws Out Charges Against Brick Superintendent: Report

TOMS RIVER, NJ — An Ocean County Superior Court judge has tossed out charges against Brick Township Schools Superintendent Walter J. Uszenski, nearly two years after he was arrested on misconduct charges, according to a report.

The Asbury Park Press reported Tuesday that Judge Patricia B. Roe dismissed all criminal charges against Uszenski, as well as those against his daughter, Jacqueline Halsey, who lived in Brick at the time but has since moved out of state.

Uszenski, 64, was arrested May 7, 2015 and indicted Sept. 29, 2015, on charges of official misconduct and theft by deception in connection with what the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said was a scheme to provide Uszenski's grandson — Halsey's child — with what the prosecutor's office said amounted to taxpayer-funded daycare.

The Press report said Roe, in dismissing the charges, said the prosecutor who presented the case to the grand jury excluded evidence that Uszenski’s grandson was, in fact, in need of the special services, calling information presented to the grand jury as “untruths" and and “wholly unsupported by the facts and the evidence within the possession of the prosecutor.’’

In addition, Roe dismissed most of the charges against Andrew Morgan, 69, of Edison, the former interim director of special services for the Brick school district, who also was indicted, the Press report said.

The Press report said two charges remain against Morgan and one remains against his wife, Lorraine Morgan, the district's former academic officer, who sought to enter pretrial intervention, a move that has been fought by the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office.

"This is far from over," Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor's office, said by email. He said the prosecutor's office is reviewing Roe's written opinion and the options.

"We have 45 days to review," Della Fave said. "A determination will be made whether to appeal or re-present the case to the grand jury."

"It is the firm belief of OCPO that there has been a violation of the law and we will aggressively move forward in our efforts to continue prosecution," Della Fave said.

Uszenski was hired as the Brick superintendent in May 2012, replacing Walter Hrycenko, who was demoted but still works for the district. Andrew Morgan served as the interim director of special services from July through December 2013, and Lorraine Morgan served through June 2015, when her contract was not renewed.

A 19-count indictment charged Uszenski, Andrew Morgan and Halsey with the second-degree crime of official misconduct and third-degree theft by deception, as well as an additional charge of third-degree official misconduct. Lorraine Morgan was charged with third-degree official misconduct, accused of approving unnecessary counseling services for Uszenski’s grandson, Della Fave said at the time of the indictment.

Andrew Morgan also was charged with submitting false information in his application for employment with the Brick Board of Education because he omitted a drug conviction from his application. Morgan was convicted of heroin and cocaine charges in 1990, but was grandfathered into a program that did not reveal that information on background checks, according an investigator for the state Department of Education. Those appear to be the charges still pending against Andrew Morgan, according to the Press report.

The judge's action in dismissing the charges creates a murky situation for the Brick Township Board of Education.

The school board suspended Uszenski with pay a day after his May 7, 2015 arrest, and then extended it to a suspension without pay following the indictment. But the issue of his continuing employment became a flashpoint, with lots of calls for Uszenski to be fired.

Sharon Cantillo, who was president of the school board at the time, and then-board attorney Jack Sahradnik, defended the board's action to suspend him, saying firing Uszenski could put the board at risk for a lawsuit if Uszenski was cleared of the charges.

The issue became a focal point of both the 2015 school board and Township Council elections. Victoria Pakala, who was then a candidate for the school board, repeatedly ripped the board for continuing to employ Uszenski, and when Pakala and her running mates — John Lamela, Stephanie Wohlrab and George White — were sworn into their seats in January 2016, one of the first actions on a list Pakala read was to direct then-interim board attorney Nicholas Montenegro to see if the board could fire Uszenski.

Richard Caldes, who has returned to his position as principal at Brick Memorial High School, served as interim superintendent of the district from May 8, 2015, through January 2016, when the board appointed interim Superintendent Thomas Gialanella. Gialanella's contract, which pays him at a per diem rate because he is a retired superintendent, was renewed.

Uszenski's contract is scheduled to expire June 30, 2018; his original contract was through June 30, 2016, but in 2013 his contract was extended two years. The district could potentially be on the hook for pay going back to October 2015 at a minimum.

The Uszenski situation also was used as ammunition in campaign flyers that ripped Frank Pannucci Jr. and Michael Conti, both of whom were seeking seats on the Township Council as their school board terms were ending in 2015. The Democrats running in that council election won easily as well.

Karen Wall photo

Editor's note: This article orginally was published Feb. 28, 2017. It was updated March 12, 2017 to correct information on the length of Uszenski's contract.