Women Decline Plea Deal In Brick Animal Hoarding Case

TOMS RIVER, NJ — Two women charged with animal cruelty in the hoarding of 180 dogs and cats at a Brick Township home have declined plea deals in the case, officials said Tuesday.

Aimee J. Lonczak, 50, and Michele Nycz, 58, were in court before Superior Court Judge Linda Baxter Tuesday morning for a status hearing on the charges in connection with the Dec. 3 discovery of the dogs and cats in Nycz's home.

In March, Baxter said Lonczak and Nycz had been presented plea offers that included jail time, and she told both women and their attorneys they needed to make a decision on whether to accept the offers or press forward to trial.

The Ocean County prosecutor's office on Tuesday afternoon said both women rejected the plea offers.

The next step is for the prosecutor's office to present the case to a grand jury, with the potential for both women to be indicted. When that will happen is not known; grand jury proceedings are not announced ahead of time.

Lonczak is charged with one count of fourth-degree animal cruelty and one count of second-degree child endangerment, while Nycz is charged with one count of third-degree animal cruelty and one count of second-degree child endangerment, after the animals — 129 dogs and 44 cats — were found in Nycz's home, living in crates stacked on top of each other, ziptied together and encrusted with feces, on Dec. 3.

Animals in the lower cages were subjected to the urine and feces of the animals above them, and authorities said feces and urine were 3 and 4 inches deep throughout the house. The fumes so strong that people had to put on hazmat suits to enter and retrieve the animals, and the house was condemned by Brick Township code enforcement. Two of the dogs removed from the house were dead. Six dogs and a cat were removed from a vehicle parked in the driveway, authorities said.

The child endangerment charges are because Lonczak's 16-year-old daughter was living with Lonczak and Nycz in the uninhabitable conditions.

At their detention hearing in December, Assistant Prosecutor Alexander Becker said additional charges were pending against the two women.

Glenn Kassman, Lonczak's attorney, confirmed the women had turned down the plea offers, but declined to comment further on the case.

Previous coverage:

• Brick Animal Hoarding Case: Questions And Answers
• 180 Dogs, Cats Removed From Brick Home, 2 Arrested: Police
• Dogs, Cats From Brick 'Puppy Mill' Under Ocean County's Care
• How Rescue Founder Hid Brick Animal Hoarding: Fosters, Adopters Speak
• 'Nightmare': Popcorn Park Officer Shares Hoarder House Experience
• Women Released To Await Trial In Brick Animal Hoarding Case
• Animals From Brick Hoarding Turned Over To Ocean County
• Missing-Pet Pleas Pour In To Police In Brick Hoarding Case
• Collie Taken By Brick Hoarders Reunited With Family
• Bloodhound Found In Brick Hoarding Case Reunited With Tennessee Family
• Women In Brick Hoarding Case Want 7 'Personal' Dogs Returned: Reports
• Brick Hoarding Case: Prosecutor Says Women Demanded Dogs From Shelter
• Women In Brick Hoarding Case To Remain Free Until Trial, Judge Rules
• Women In Brick Dog Hoarding Case Face Jail Time In Plea Offers

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