Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

25 Kirkpatrick Street, 3^rd Floor, New Brunswick, New Jersey, 08901 (732) 745-3300

*News Release* Date: June 11, 2010

Corrections officer jailed for theft of union funds

Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan announced today that a former president of a labor union representing corrections officers has been sentenced to serve a 364-day jail term for stealing $66,300 from union coffers.

William R. Reilly Jr. (DOB 3/29/74) of Belleville, also was placed on probation for five years and was ordered to repay the funds that were taken from Juvenile Justice Correction Officers Association, Policemen’s Benevolent Association Local 367. He has already repaid more than $25,000.

In addition, Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa ordered Reilly to resign his job as a corrections officer and said the defendant may never again hold a public job.

Reilly, who had worked as a corrections officer at the New Jersey Training School in Monroe Township, was sentenced at the Middlesex County Courthouse on June 10, 2010, after he pleaded guilty on April 1, 2010 to a theft count, admitting he stole the funds between September 22, 2007 and July 22, 2009.

During the plea hearing, Reilly waived his right to a presentation of the case to a grand jury and pleaded guilty following negotiations with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Manuel Sameiro.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Reilly faced up to three years in a New Jersey state prison, but the judge opted for 364 days at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center in North Brunswick.

Reilly was charged March 4, 2010, following an investigation by Sgt. Pamela Jeffrey of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. The charge was filed after it was determined that Reilly, while serving as union president, withdrew various amounts of cash from automated teller machines and made purchases with a union debit card.

The investigation began after union officials reported the thefts to the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.