Suspended Middlesex County Judge Indicted On Official Misconduct, Hindering Apprehension Charges

A suspended Middlesex County judge has been indicted on charges that she tried to hide her boyfriend, who was wanted by police, in her Woodbridge home.

A grand jury, sitting in Somerset County, handed up a three-count indictment against Carlia M. Brady, charging her with second-degree official misconduct and two counts of third-degree hindering apprehension.

Brady’s Fairfield-based attorney, Timothy Smith of Caruso Smith Picini, told the New Jersey Law Journal that he plans to file a motion to dismiss the charges, calling the indictment “irresponsible and outrageous” and saying the charging document was “premised on the false notion that it is a crime not to help capture a fugitive.”

According to the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, Brady knew there was a warrant for the arrest of her then-boyfriend, Jason Prontnicki, but she offered to provide him with, or help him obtain “money, transportation or clothing as a means of avoiding discovery or apprehension,’’ the news release said.

Brady is accused of official misconduct because she refrained “from performing a duty clearly inherent in the office of Judge of the Superior Court,’’ by failing to enforce the arrest warrant, the news release said.

She is accused of harboring him in her home on June 10 and June 11, 2013, the news release said.

Prontnicki is awaiting trial in the case of an Old Bridge pharmacy robbery, according to MyCentralJersey.com.

He is accused of threatening the drug store owner with a crowbar while demanding drugs, according to NJ.com.

Woodbridge police began the investigation in 2013, but it was then transferred to Somerset County because of Brady’s position as a judge.

If convicted, Brady faces five- to 10-years in prison on the second-degree official misconduct charge.