Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office

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

 

                                *News Release*          Date: June 30, 2009                                                  
 
 

 

 


Sayreville firefighter sentenced for theft of gasoline; diesel fuel

 

 

          Middlesex County Prosecutor Bruce J. Kaplan announced that a volunteer firefighter from Sayreville was sentenced today to serve up to four years in prison for stealing nearly $2,500 worth of gasoline and diesel fuel from the borough over a two-year period.

 

Mark A. Johnson, (DOB 8/24/65) of Sayreville, also was ordered by Superior Court Judge Frederick P. DeVesa to reimburse the borough $2,481 to cover the cost of the fuel.

 

In addition, Johnson was ordered to resign from his position as a volunteer firefighter and will never again hold a public job in New Jersey.

 

The sentence was imposed after Johnson pleaded guilty on Feb. 3, 2009, to a charge of official misconduct, following an investigation that showed the defendant used another firefighter’s personal identification number to access $1,293 worth of gasoline and $1,187 worth of diesel fuel from the fuel pumps at borough hall on Main Street in Sayreville.

 

Police began the investigation after Sayreville police Sgt. Robert Lasko stopped Johnson during a routine patrol on June 8, 2008, and determined the firefighter had taken some fuel when he was not authorized to do so.

 

Detective Richard Belotti of the Sayreville Police Department and Investigator Adrian Villegas of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office Special Prosecutions Unit determined the fuel was taken in various quantities between April 2, 2006, and June 8, 2008.

 

The sentence was imposed after a plea agreement was reached with Middlesex County Assistant Prosecutor Brian D. Gillet.