PECULATING PACHYDERM PLEADS GUILTY TO STEALING FROM REPUBLICANS: USDOJ Press Release: Former NJ Republican Treasurer Pleads Guilty to Embezzlement!

NEWS
Assistant U.S. Attorney: Mark J. McCarren FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
973-645-2867
October 14, 2008
Former Branchburg Republican Committee Treasurer Admits
Embezzlement of Committee’s Funds
NEWARK – The former treasurer of the Branchburg Republican District Committee
pleaded guilty today to a charge of mail fraud for the misappropriation of $10,000 from the committee’s bank account, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.
Russell Herzog, 46, of Branchburg, who served as the treasurer of the Banchburg
Republican District Committee (“BRDC”) from approximately June 2002 through
December 2007, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge William H. Walls to a one count Information that charges him with devising a scheme to defraud and to obtain
money from the BRDC and its contributors, thereby depriving the committee to its right to the honest services of its treasurer.
Judge Walls released the defendant on a $10,000 unsecured bond pending sentencing,
which is scheduled Jan. 20, 2009.
At his plea hearing, Herzog admitted that on two separate occasions during 2003, he
withdrew $6,000 and $4,000 and used the funds to pay personal debts which bore no
relation to the activities of the BRDC. Herzog admitted that, in his role as treasurer, he submitted a fraudulent quarterly form to the New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission in Trenton, which failed to document these withdrawals of money by Herzog and incorrectly stated the amount of cash on hand at the end of the respective quarter.
The charge of mail fraud carries a maximum statutory penalty of 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.
In determining the actual sentence, Judge Walls will consult the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, which provide appropriate sentencing ranges that take into account the severity and characteristics of the offense, a defendant’s criminal history, if any, and other factors. The judge, however, is not bound by those guidelines in determining a sentence.
Parole has been abolished in the federal system and thus defendants who are given
custodial terms must serve nearly all the time imposed by the court.
Christie credited Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the
direction of Special Agent in Charge Weysan Dun, in Newark, for the investigation
leading to the guilty plea.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. McCarren, of the
Special Prosecutions unit, in Newark.
-end-
Defense Counsel: Blair Zwillman, Esq., Woodbridge