2003-06-16 -- Nash, James -- Guilty Plea -- News Release

Former New Hanover Township Official Pleads Guilty to Steering Federally Funded School Construction Contract

TRENTON - Former New Hanover Township Administrator James J. Nash pleaded guilty today to causing fabricated vendors' quotes to be submitted to the New Hanover Township Board of Education to steer a federally funded 1999 contract to a relative of another township official, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Nash, 63, of New Hanover Township, entered his plea in U.S. District Court in Trenton before Judge Garrett E. Brown, Jr., who scheduled sentencing for September 22. Nash pleaded guilty to a one-count Information charging him with misapplying federal money received by the New Hanover Board of Education by causing fabricated vendors' quotes to be submitted to the school board to steer a Board of Education contract to a relative of a New Hanover Township official, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Treby Williams.

The defendant faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

No one else has been charged in connection with the case. The investigation is continuing, Christie said.

According to the felony Information to which he pleaded guilty, Nash held numerous salaried municipal positions in New Hanover throughout 1999, including Township Administrator and Treasurer of School Funds for the New Hanover Township Board of Education.

The Information states that in April 1999, the New Hanover Board of Education decided to contract with a vendor to replace the sidewalk in front of the New Hanover Township School. The contract was to be funded with federal funds received by the Board of Education that year. Consistent with New Jersey State Law, the Board of Education was to be presented with at least two vendor quotes prior to awarding the contract.

Nash admitted that on April 15, 1999, he met with another New Hanover Township official, a member of the New Hanover Board of Education and others. Nash admitted that they had decided to steer the sidewalk project to a relative of the other township official. He also acknowledged that prior to the meeting, the Board of Education member obtained a written quote from the relative which priced the sidewalk job at $11,500.

Nash admitted that at the meeting, they decided to obtain two fabricated written quotes for higher prices in the names of local vendors that would be submitted to the Board of Education along with the relative's quote. Nash admitted that he directed another New Hanover Township employee to prepare one of the fabricated quotes in the name of a local vendor. Nash also acknowledged that the Board of Education member submitted the relative's quote and the two fabricated quotes (one for $11,950 and the other for $12,200) to the Board of Education at its evening meeting on April 15. Nash stated that at the meeting, based on the three quotes submitted, the Board of Education awarded the sidewalk contract to the relative, who was paid the $11,500 after he completed the job three months later.

According to the Information, the relative was paid with funds that the Board of Education received from Impact Aid, a federal grant program designed to reimburse local school districts for the impact that federal land acquisitions had on the municipal tax base, and consequently, their respective school budgets. The New Hanover Board of Education qualified for Impact Aid because the United States owned the land occupied by the Fort Dix military base in New Hanover Township.

Under U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Judge Brown will determine Nash's actual sentence based upon a formula that takes into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, and the defendant's criminal history, if any. Parole has been abolished in the federal system. Under Sentencing Guidelines, defendants who are sentenced to prison must serve nearly the entire custodial term.

Nash was released on an unsecured $300,000 personal recognizance bond pending sentencing.

In the filing of a felony Information, a defendant waives the right to have his or her case presented to a federal grand jury and, instead, pleads guilty to charges presented by the Government.

Christie credited Special Agents of the FBI's Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Louie F. Allen, Special Agent in Charge in Newark, with the investigation, which is continuing.

The Government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Treby Williams, of the U.S. Attorney's Criminal Division in Trenton.

Defense Attorney: John L Call, Jr., Esq. Mount Holly