Campbell Sentenced, PBA 59 Still Short

COURT HOUSE – When Lower Township Police Officer Mike Szemcsak was sworn as the new president of Policeman’s Benevolent Association (PBA) Local 59 (Wildwood) in July 2016, one had to wonder if the previous president and former Cape May police officer, John Campbell, knew the time was short.
Shortly after the change of leadership, PBA 59 prepared for tax filings due in September by conducting a financial audit. The usually routine task ended up being anything but normal.
After crunching the numbers, executive officers with PBA 59 found that over $180,000 had been embezzled by Campbell.
The 230-member PBA immediately turned over evidence of monetary theft to the state Attorney General, who instructed the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau to investigate.
On Aug. 10, 2016, the union released a statement that said it was cooperating with authorities in an investigation of ‘financial discrepancies.’
A year later to the day, Attorney General Christopher Porrino announced that following the July 13, 2017, arrest of Campbell, the former union president, and state delegate had agreed to plead guilty to third-degree theft, sending him to county jail for 364 days.
The plea bargaining deal revealed that the 49-year-old Campbell had used what the Attorney General’s Office stated was the PBA’s checking account and American Express business card from 2012 to 2016 to provide himself with snacks, and gas for his vehicle to time shares in Florida, the Caribbean and Mexico.
A ‘Heinous Act’
On Nov. 17, Campbell, a police officer of over 25 years, found himself in a position within a courtroom at the defense table facing sentencing.
Defense attorney Joseph J. Rodgers opened by telling the court he had known Campbell for a long time and that his client had erred, ending up involved in a “terrible and tragic” act of embezzlement that he was “acutely, astutely and humbly” aware had caused pain and suffering.
Campbell, Rodgers stated, had a psychological evaluation done by clinical psychologist Dr. John McInerney that found no mental disorders, but did find the presence of a lot of stress that may have impacted the defendant’s judgment.
McInerney also concluded that it was “highly unlikely” Campbell would ever commit additional crimes. 
New Jersey Deputy Attorney General Brian Uzdavinis would later rebut that while the stress factors might have contributed to the crime, they were largely stresses of the defendant’s own creation. Uzdavinis also noted that Rodgers’ mentioning of McInerney’s findings was outside of the mutually accepted plea agreement.
Holding a letter envelope up, Rodgers went on to inform the court that he had in his possession a check for $105,000 to be paid in restitution to PBA Local 59 and that it would be put into a trust to be accessed by the victimized union.
After relinquishing the check to Uzdavinis, Rodgers moved to further dilute the plea agreement by reminding Superior Court Judge John Porto that “the court has a certain amount of leeway when it comes to county jail time and probation.”
Alternative sentencing options, Rodgers offered, do exist and include such things as community service.
Campbell’s attorney dismissed the notion that such an alternative was more lenient, saying that prison would enable Campbell to shelter himself from the day-to-day opprobrium of the community. Comparing it to the stockades of old, Rodgers insisted that community service would be “punishment in the open.”
Campbell then addressed the court with a short statement.
“I am sorry to PBA 59 for any harm I may have caused. I am sorry to my family, my friends, and the community for what I have done.”
The prosecution, represented by the Deputy Attorney Generals Uzdavinis and Valerie Butler, began their time by saying that after going through four years of accounting records and confirming that “tens of thousands of dollars” in funds had been embezzled, the judge should stick to the plea agreement of placing Campbell in county lockup.
Looking to show that Campbell intended all along to steal the funds, Uzdavinis mentioned that an informal agreement had been struck between the defendant and the union to pay back money used, but not one payment ever occurred.
Porto interjected that the court was considering facts and not intent.
Robert Hartman, Jr., vice president of PBA 59, then read a prepared statement which Campbell’s crimes were described as “shocking and disturbing.”
“The revelation that a former president and delegate of the PBA, but perhaps more importantly, a man who was sworn to uphold the law, embezzled funds from his own community, and brothers and sisters in law enforcement, was shocking and disturbing.”
The statement said that the defendant’s actions “tarnished the badge of every officer ever represented by the New Jersey Policemen’s Benevolent Association” and that of the law enforcement profession.
“In an era where the trust in law enforcement is key to building and maintaining the very social fabric that keeps our communities safe, this was a significant hit.”
It was, Hartman read, a “heinous” act.
Homeward Bound
Over a year after his arrest, Campbell finally received his sentence.
On the one count of third-degree theft, which could have landed Campbell in prison for five years, but was pleaded down to the 364 days, Porto found that the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating factors, thus producing a presumption against incarceration. Instead of nearly one year in prison, Campbell received five years’ probation, six months of home detention with a monitoring bracelet to begin that day and 300 hours community service.
Campbell was also ordered to pay court fees and a $5,000 fine, which could have been as high as $15,000.
Porto explained that he saw the sentence as producing a warning to others who might think of stealing and he did not believe the honor of the PBA had been irreparably harmed.
The attending members of the PBA sat stoned faced, with one of them shaking his head.
Campbell was going home.
Unfinished Business
After the sentencing, Hartman spoke with the Herald and did not mince words.
“One day in jail would have been better for us than what he got,” mused Hartman. Referencing incidences where people received stiffer sentences from embezzling less money from Little Leagues, Hartman called Porto’s decision a “shock” but followed it up by saying, “But it’s his kingdom.”
Stating that they had placed the pursuit of justice in the hands of the Attorney General’s Office, Hartman noted that the PBA was still out $75,000 following the pleaded down amount of restitution.
Hartman was also unhappy with how the prosecution depicted one of the tools of Campbell’s crime, the PBA credit card. According to Hartman, the defendant “had his own card with his own Social Security number attached to it and he added the PBA checking account to it.”
Asked if the union would pursue the matter in civil court, Hartman replied that for now PBA 59 was going to concentrate on re-grouping and would explore all their options at a later date.
Campbell declined to comment on the sentence.
To contact Christopher Knoll, email cknoll@cmcherald.com.