Wildwood officials say they were entitled to coverage under the State Health Benefits Plan.
Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron, Commissioner Steven E. Mikulski and former mayor Ernest Troiano Jr. have all pleaded not guilty to charges they submitted false records in order to qualify for the State Health Benefits Program as full-time city employees.
“My client is not guilty, so he is not going to plead guilty,” said Eric Shenkus, an attorney with NJ Office of the Public Defender who is representing Byron. “If it takes a trial to prove it, then that’s what we’re going to do.” By contesting the charges, each defendant is not only hoping to avoid prison, but the huge payback in benefits that the Attorney General’s office claims were illegally obtained. The state is seeking $608,900 in restitution from Byron, $286,500 from Troiano, and $103,000 from Mikulski, according to the AG’s office.
Mikulski was elected in 2020 and then enrolled in the SHBP. His attorney, David Stefankiewicz, said Mikulski was under the impression that the 2011 Wildwood commission resolution authorized him to do so. In announcing the charges, Matthew J. Platkin, who was acting attorney general at the time, called the offenses “egregious breaches of the public trust.”
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