COURT HOUSE – It will not be the experienced defense lawyer Bill Hughes Jr. representing Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron in his health benefits case, but instead a public defender.
Hughes asked Judge Bernard DeLury Jr. to let him out of the case Oct. 28, after a brief off-the-record conference in a back room at the Cape May County Courthouse. Back in court, Hughes said the case includes hundreds of thousands of pages of discovery and complex issues of law.
Byron, former Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. and sitting city Commissioner Steve Mikulski were charged in June with theft and tampering with public records.
State prosecutors allege the three fraudulently accepted health benefits they were not entitled to since they were not full-time employees of the city. The state also alleges that while serving as elected officials, they falsified timecards to make it appear as though they worked full days, Monday through Friday.
DeLury relisted Byron’s case for early 2023 to give his appointed attorney time to get up to speed.
Byron said after the hearing he couldn’t comment on the case and said to direct questions about why Hughes bailed to the lawyer.
Hughes, a former federal prosecutor, who is now known for white collar defense work, said later he also wouldn’t comment on the decision. DeLury told Byron that the court would assign him counsel and instructed the Wildwood mayor to contact Hughes with any questions about the transition.
In brief and separate appearances before the court, Troiano and Mikulski were also given a January date. DeLury, the presiding judge for both Cape May and Atlantic County courts, said he will assign this case to himself going forward.
Deputy Attorney General Brian Uzdavinis told DeLury that for all three defendants, the case does not appear likely to be resolved pre-indictment. The state said it is having some scheduling difficulty getting time in front of a grand jury but will look to present the case to try to obtain indictments as soon as possible, and before February.
In the meantime, Troiano plans to file a motion for a probable cause hearing in the case, where he will argue the state didn’t even meet the standard of reasonable grounds to bring the charge.
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North Wildwood – Anyone who thinks the NJ DEP wanted the Lou Booth theater area as a settlement ,Ive got a Cape May County Bridge "that is guaranteed to open without getting stuck" to sell you!
