COURT HOUSE – Despite a surprise plea agreement signed last month by their co-defendant – former Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron – that will enlist his cooperation against them, Wildwood Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. and Commissioner Steve Mikulski were unwavering in their resolve to take the official misconduct cases they are facing before juries.
During brief court appearances Friday afternoon, Oct. 18, in Cape May County Superior Court, Troiano and Mikulski separately told a judge they want to turn down plea offers and go to trial on charges they unlawfully accepted health benefits while serving in public office. Both men maintain their innocence and have said they see the case as nothing more than an impediment to their duties as public servants.
The revelation that the cases would be put on the trial list – for March 3, 2025 – was not really that at all, but rather an affirmation of what the two elected-officials-turned-criminal-defendants have said all along – they will fight.
Troiano, Mikulski and Byron were indicted in 2023 on second-degree official misconduct, second-degree theft by unlawful taking, third-degree tampering with public records and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records charges, with the state saying they didn’t qualify for health benefits while serving in what prosecutors have called part-time roles in Wildwood. They took the state’s medical insurance and are charged with defrauding taxpayers out of almost $1 million collectively in premiums and claims.
In electing to place their cases on the trial list, Troiano and Mikulski each turned down pretrial offers from the state to plead guilty to a second-degree theft charge in exchange for a five-year recommended prison sentence in addition to agreeing to a ban on holding public office or employment and payment of restitution.
Typically, in New Jersey, an individual is eligible for parole after serving one-third of the sentence, though on the second-degree official misconduct charge, which would have been dismissed as part of the plea, there is a five-year mandatory period of parole ineligibility attached.
If convicted at trial on all charges and sentenced to consecutive terms, Troiano and Mikulski each face 26.5 years in state prison, a term Presiding Judge Bernard E. DeLury Jr. described as “unlikely” when explaining to Troiano his exposure, though the judge also said if convicted on the second-degree charges some prison term would be a “virtual certainty” for Wildwood’s mayor.
Wildwood elected officials had enjoyed health insurance coverage and were legally eligible for years, but in 2010 they encountered a problem. The Legislature enacted changes to the eligibility requirements for participation in the State Health Benefits Program, requiring participants to be “full-time” employees with a work schedule “fixed at 35 or more hours per week.”
As a remedy, the Wildwood Board of Commissioners, consisting of Troiano, Byron and Anthony Leonetti, passed a resolution at a public meeting in 2011 declaring each member of their board a full-time employee, allegedly so they could continue to receive the benefits despite the legislative change.
Sometime later, Leonetti withdrew voluntarily from the benefits program, which likely factored into prosecutors’ decision not to charge him. It is yet to be seen if he will be a witness for the prosecution at trial.
Byron, a former Troiano ally and elected commissioner in the former Troiano administration, ran against Troiano and won in 2019, getting sworn as mayor in January 2020.
After Byron pleaded guilty in federal court to an unrelated personal income tax fraud case, the state forced him to resign as mayor, and Troiano succeeded him, winning election in 2023 on a ticket with Mikulski. Mikulski had been a political newcomer, entering the arena as part of the team Byron assembled to run against Troiano in the 2019 election. After taking office in 2020, Mikulski too began to accept benefits.
Subsequent to Byron’s guilty plea in federal court and his being sentenced to probation in August 2023, the state secured an additional indictment against Byron on charges closely mirroring those that were part of the federal case.
The state thereby had leverage over Byron, whose resources to defend the charges were limited to the capability and availability of his public defender.
Eric Shenkus, the public defender assigned to represent Byron, said Friday he had no comment on his client’s decision to plead guilty, accept his role as a cooperating witness and agree to the recommendation of a three-year state prison sentence. A longtime cellphone number for Byron has been disconnected.
Sentencing for Byron will be deferred until the state is satisfied with his cooperation in the Troiano and Mikulski cases; if he does not testify truthfully and cooperate fully, the state can revoke the deal and go after Byron on the initial charges.
After court Friday, Deputy Attorney General Brian Uzdavinis, the lead prosecutor, said he could not comment and referred the Herald to his office’s public relations staff. A member of that team declined comment on how Byron’s role as a cooperating witness will impact the cases against Troiano and Mikulski.
David A. Stefankiewicz, a defense attorney for Mikulski, said in an interview Friday evening that Byron’s cooperation agreement doesn’t factor into Mikulski’s defense strategy.
“I don’t anticipate Byron has much relevant information as far as Mikulski is concerned,” Stefankiewicz told the Herald. “A lot of the evidence that the state thinks it’s developed was evidence that predated Mikulski’s tenure as a commissioner. So, it doesn’t change the equation at all.”
Charles H. Nugent Jr., Troiano’s lawyer, didn’t comment.
Both Mikulski and Troiano said outside the courtroom that they did not want to speak about their cases on the record.
The same trial date of March 3, 2025, was given to both defendants, but that date may change, the judge said, depending on the availability of the court and counsel. The state said it plans to try Mikulski first and expects to take three or four weeks to present the case.
Troiano, Mikulski and Byron were initially indicted together by a state grand jury in March 2023, but the charges against all three were dismissed without prejudice following a successful motion argued by Troiano’s former lawyers, who convinced a judge the process prosecutors took in procuring the indictment was unfair because some grand jurors were not in a position to reasonably determine credibility of grand jury witnesses by only relying on transcripts of their testimony.
The state brought the case back, and the three were indicted by a different grand jury in July 2023. That indictment survived a subsequent challenge by Troiano’s lawyers in the fall of that year.
In February, a judge ruled Troiano must get new counsel, after his former lawyer, Brian Pelloni, accepted a job with the state Office of the Attorney General, the same agency leading his client’s prosecution.
In May, Troiano retained Nugent.
In July, the judge granted defense motions to sever the cases, meaning the defendants will be tried separately.
Contact the reporter, Shay Roddy, at sroddy@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600, ext. 142.
