December 8, 10

NEWS / Ocean County Man Pleads Guilty to Unlawfully Collecting More Than $16,000 in Disability Insurance Be

TRENTON - Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced that an Ocean County man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining more than $16,000 in disability insurance benefits to which he was not entitled.

According to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Riza Dagli, Thomas Gallo, 55, of Bayville, pleaded guilty yesterday (Dec. 7) before Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels in Ocean County to an accusation which charged him with third-degree theft by deception.

Judge Daniels scheduled sentencing for Feb. 4. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Gallo be sentenced to probation. New Jersey law provides that there is a presumption against any sentence of incarceration for a person convicted of a third-degree crime who has not previously been convicted of an indictable offense.

In pleading guilty, Gallo, a truck driver for Freehold Cartage, Inc., admitted that between Feb. 5 and Oct. 6, 2008, following an injury at work, he obtained $16,821.84 in fraudulent disability insurance claims from Freehold Cartage, Inc., even though he was working for another company and therefore not entitled to receive temporary disability benefits from Freehold Cartage.

Detective Natalie Brotherston and Deputy Attorney General Cheryl A. Maccaroni were assigned to the investigation. Maccaroni represented the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the guilty plea hearing. Acting Prosecutor Dagli thanked Freehold Cartage, Inc. and ACE America/ESIS for their assistance in the investigation.

http://www.nj.gov/oag/newsreleases10/pr20101208a.html