COURT HOUSE – The judge hearing the case of three Wildwood officials charged with receiving state health benefits to which they were not entitled has granted a motion to separate the trials of the three men.
The three — Ernie Troiano Jr., who was not in office at the time of the charges but has since been elected again to the Wildwood Board of Commissioners; former Mayor Pete Byron, and current Deputy Mayor Steve Mikulski — were charged in March 2023 by the state Office of the Attorney General.
Troiano, Byron and Mikulski, who originally were to be tried together, deny the charges, and each has retained counsel.
None of the parties was in court July 12 when Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury Jr. read his decision into the court record. Troiano and Mikulski are scheduled to return to Cape May County Superior Court on Thursday, Aug. 22. Byron’s case has been moved to Atlantic County Superior Court in Mays Landing and will resume on Friday, Aug. 23.
The state is charging that the three, while serving as elected officials, falsified timecards to make it appear as though they worked full time, which is defined as working at least 35 hours per week. Each of the three was charged with second-degree official misconduct, second-degree theft by unlawful taking, third-degree tampering with public records and fourth-degree falsifying or tampering with records.
According to court documents, Troiano received benefits from July 2011 through December 2019, billing $286,500 to the city and to the State Health Benefits Program. Byron received $608,900 in benefits from July 2011 through October 2021, the state charges, and Mikulski, who took office in 2020, filed for more than $103,000 in premiums and claims between January 2020 and October 2021.
Since 2010, according to New Jersey law, an elected official must work at least 35 hours per week to be eligible for state health-care benefits. The defendants have claimed that they met that requirement.
Mikulski said he was happy to see the cases separated because he sees his case as being different from the others. Mikulski has spent less time in office than either Byron or Troiano.
Byron resigned his office in September 2023, six weeks after the Attorney General’s Office filed a motion to force him to vacate his office due to a federal conviction. He had pleaded guilty to not paying federal income tax for a job for which he was paid $40,425 of a $50,000 per year salary.
Troiano, who ran successfully for election while under the state indictment, has always expressed optimism that he would win his case. The Attorney General’s Office had offered him a plea deal that would have had him serve three years in state prison, pay restitution, cooperate against his co-defendants and forfeit public office. He rejected the deal.
No trial date has been set for any of the defendants.
Contact the reporter, Christopher South, at csouth@cmcherald.com or 609-886-8600 ext. 128.
