Wall Superintendent Gets 5-Year Jail Sentence: Report

Former Wall schools superintendent James Habel has been sentenced to five years in prison without early release on parole for lying about vacation days he took but never reported, according to a report.

The Asbury Park Press reported that Superior Court Judge Ronald L. Reisner also ordered a forfeiture of Habel’s pension benefits and barred him from holding another public office.

“This defendant decided, for whatever reason, for himself, that he was to answer to no one,’’ Reisner said before he imposed the prison term. “The jury found that he was guilty of official misconduct. ...”there is a strong need to deter this defendant in particular and all people who hold public office not to engage in this kind of conduct.”

Habel, who was the Wall superintendent from March 2003 until he retired in 2012, was convicted in March 2015 on charges of official misconduct for taking 105 vacation days but not reporting them to the district. He also was convicted of four counts of falsifying records.

Reisner rejected several arguments by Habel’s defense attorney, Edward C. Bertucio, that aimed at keeping Habel out of jail, including one seeking a mistrial because Robert Honecker, who represented Habel during the trial, had a conflict of interest.

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