Judge Thompson is admitted to PTI
Richard B. Thompson (News12 photo)
Former Municipal Court Judge Richard B. Thompson was admitted to the pre-trial intervention programs by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office–meaning he will not serve any prison time and the charges he pleaded guilty to will be dismissed if he stays out of trouble for one year, according to a report at app.com.
Thompson will be eligible to have his criminal record expunged six months after successfully completing the program.
Thompson, 62, of Middletown, pleaded guilty last month to one count of fourth degree Falsifying Records.
As the Municipal Court Judge in nine Monmouth County towns, Thompson altered records of approximately 4000 traffic tickets, according to an announcement by Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni. In his scheme which occurred between January 2010 and the date of his suspension in October of 2015, Thompson converted fines for motor vehicle infractions to contempt of court penalties. He admitted that the purpose of the scheme was to enable towns that hired him to keep the money collected from wayward motorists rather than split it with Monmouth County, as required by state law. The scheme cost Monmouth County’s treasury more than $500,000.
Thompson earned $217,400 per year, combined, as the part-time municipal Judge for Bradley Beach, Colts Neck, Eatontown, Middletown, Neptune City, Oceanport, Rumson, Tinton Falls and Union Beach. Gramicionni’s announcement made no mention of the status of Thompson’s pension.
According to app.com, Judge David Bauman said that Thompson’s admission into the PTI program was the prosecutor’s decision, not the court’s.
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it’s always nice to have friends in important places…
Most importantly, will he be able to keep his pension?
This is very interesting. Typically the special interest preference and corruption around us is hidden, or at least subtly nuanced. Here it is however, right out in the open for everyone to see. Remember when you walk into the voting booth.
when you vote? Nothing. Both parties in NJ get to appoint a certain number of judges. Most lawyers aspire to be a judge. We have no say in that, one way or the other. In some states, they stand for election/ re-election. I don’t know which is better. As with the politicians, you are gonna get good public servants and bad apples- it’s life, it happens. One would think that, in light of nonsense in Washington, and other places, there certainly seems to be different sets of rules and enforcement ( or lack thereof,) for different classes and different people.
So he’s guilty of letting people plea to a lesser offense to avoid points and insurance increases or criminal records. The defendant pays the same amount or a little more but instead of the state and county taking the money (for doing nothing) the town gets the revenue. Sound like a winner for both the defendants and the towns!