Authorities: Monmouth County Man Sentenced In Bounty Hunter Bribery Scheme

A Monmouth County man, who had worked as a Hudson County sheriff’s officer, has been sentenced to five years in state prison for signing fake documents for a bounty hunter in exchange for cash, authorities said.

William Chadwick, 59, a Keansburg resident and former Hudson County sheriff’s officer, was ordered Friday to serve the prison sentence by state Superior Court Judge Stuart A. Minkowitz, sitting in Morris County. Chadwick pleaded guilty on July 14, 2009 to second-degree official misconduct. Chadwick must also forfeit $5,500 in illegal cash gifts that he admitted receiving from Mikhaeil, according to a news release from acting state Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

Another defendant, Alberto Vasquez, 46, of Apex, North Carolina, who is a former Hudson County Sheriff’s Office detective, was sentenced to 90 days in the county jail as a condition of four years of probation, authorities said. He must forfeit $3,500 in illegal cash gifts, the news release said. Vasquez pleaded guilty in 2010 to a third-degree charge of official misconduct.

Both men are permanently barred from public employment in New Jersey.

“These former sheriff’s officers put their honesty and honor up for sale, betraying the oath they took to uphold the law so that they could enrich themselves and this bounty hunter,” Hoffman said in a prepared statement. “Sheriff’s officers deal with criminals every day in our justice system in various capacities, so it is highly alarming if they cross the line and commit crimes themselves.”

The bounty hunter, Adel Mikhaeil, 50, of Stroudsburg, Pa., was sentenced earlier this year to a six-year prison term.

According to the news release:

When they entered their guilty pleas, both Chadwick and Vasquez admitted they signed documents -- called body receipts -- that indicated that Mikhaeil caught certain fugitives, but those fugitives had actually been taken into custody by law enforcement officers.

Mikhaeil paid Chadwick and Vasquez for their signatures and for providing him with official information about fugitives, including arrest photos.

Because of those fake body receipts, Mikhaeil was able to collect higher fees from the insurance companies that insured the fugitives’ bail bonds. Those fake receipts also led to a reduction in the amount of bail forfeited. That was a savings for the bail bond insurers, but a loss to the counties where the fugitive jumped bail and the state, which divide forfeited funds.

The bounty hunter also paid $92,550 in bribes to an insurance company executive in exchange for business.

The executive, John Sullivan, a former vice president for Sirius America Insurance Company, pleaded guilty to commercial bribery and money laundering, and was sentenced in 2013 to 90 days in jail and three years of probation. He also forfeited $92,550.

Two of Mikhaeil’s employees, George Formoe and Trevor Williams, entered guilty pleas, admitting they helped cover up those payments.

Formoe, 48, of Ridgefield Park, was sentenced in 2013 to two years of probation.

Williams, 42, of Jersey City, was sentenced Friday to 90 days in the county jail as a condition of three years of probation.

One other defendant is awaiting sentencing.

James Irizarry, 48, of Mohnton, Pa., pleaded guilty in 2009 to commercial bribery.

Irizarry had worked for a company that locates fugitives for insurance companies that insure bail bonds. He admitted he took bribes, and in exchange for those payments, he hired Mikhaeil to recover fugitives for his former employer and approved his invoices.

At Irizarry’s sentencing, scheduled for later this month, the state will recommend a term of 364 days in jail and probation. He has forfeited $5,000.

Deputy Attorney General Anthony A. Picione, Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Jacqueline Weyand handled the sentencings. They prosecuted the case with Deputy Attorney General Jeffrey Manis.

The investigation was conducted by Lt. Myles Cappiello and Detective Sgt. 1st Class Neil Hickey of the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption North Unit; Picione and Manis, Detective Scott Donlan, and Analyst Alison Callery of the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau; and Detective Sgt. Mary Reinke of the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office. The Hudson County Sheriff’s Office also assisted in the investigation.

Photo courtesy New Jersey Attorney General’s Office