TOMS RIVER-Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer and Toms River Township Police Chief Mitch Little announced that on October 4, 2019, Shawn C. Lee, 47, of Toms River, was arrested and charged with Sexual Assault in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:14-2c(3)(b). The arrest comes after a month long investigation by the Toms River Police Department and Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. Investigation revealed that Lee had sexual intercourse with a 16 year-old victim in September of 2007.

PATERSON-Petra Rhoden, 43, was just working her job as a DoorDash delivery driver on Friday night when she was shot and killed.

Rhoden was shot and her car crashed through a shed and fence at around 10:20 pm.  She had just completed a delivery for DoorDash when the incident happened.  First responders brought her to St. Joseph’s University Medical Center where she was declared dead.

A police investigation into her murder is ongoing.

LAKEWOOD-The Lakewood Police Department is actively investigating an aggravated assault that occurred a short time ago in the downtown area.

Initial reports suggest that there are two victims, who suffered knife wounds. At this time there is one person in custody.

The investigation is still unfolding and additional information will be released as it becomes available.

TOMS RIVER-The Lakewood Police Department, along with the Ocean County Prosecutors Office, is actively investigation a fatal hit and run accident that claimed the life of a 15 year old boy.

The accident was reported just after 10:00 pm last evening after two pedestrians were struck by what is being described as a dark in color newer style Jeep Cherokee. Further investigation revealed that a local father and son were walking east along Oak Street when they were both struck by the Jeep as it was traveling east bound. The vehicle was last seen fleeing the area , south on Albert Avenue.

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal and the New Jersey Coordinator for Addiction Responses and Enforcement Strategies (“NJ CARES”) today announced that an Ocean County physician convicted of illegally distributing highly addictive opioid painkillers with no medical justification has been permanently barred from prescribing controlled dangerous substances (“CDS”) in the state.

Dr. Liviu T. Holca, who practiced family medicine in Manahawkin, agreed to permanently forfeit his CDS prescribing privileges to resolve a Complaint filed by the State in the wake of Holca’s 2014 arrest on charges of illegal drug distribution, money laundering, and weapons offenses in connection with his medical practice. Holca’s license was temporarily suspended following his arrest and he has been barred from practicing medicine since that time.

Holca’s arrest came at a time when Ocean County’s opioid overdose death rates were among the highest in the state.

“There is no doubt that Dr. Holca’s reckless prescribing of opioids helped fuel an addiction crisis that Ocean County is still struggling to overcome,” said Attorney General Grewal. “The permanent revocation of his CDS prescribing privileges may offer little consolation to the families who lost loved ones to the addiction epidemic he helped create and perpetuate, but it ensures he will never again be an illegal source of dangerous, habit-forming prescription drugs in Ocean County or anywhere else in the state.”

Holca’s arrest was the result of a joint investigation led by the New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs and the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office. During the investigation, Holca wrote prescriptions for hundreds of oxycodone and Xanax pills for an undercover officer whom Holca believed to be a patient. The undercover officer repeatedly told Holca that she did not need the pills for any medical reason, but that she took them because they made her “feel good” and that she also gave them to friends.
In 2016, Holca pleaded guilty to illegal distribution of CDS and money laundering and was sentenced to three years of probation, 100 hours of community service, and ordered to forfeit $291,919 from his bank accounts.

“This doctor’s indiscriminate prescribing of opioids not only broke the law, it violated the trust we place in doctors to do no harm,” said Sharon M. Joyce, Director of NJ CARES. “We expect medical professionals to exercise sound judgment in prescribing medication, especially controlled substances that can lead to addiction. As we continue to battle New Jersey’s opioid crisis, we cannot afford to have our efforts thwarted by irresponsible doctors who push highly addictive opioid pain pills into our communities.”
“It’s hard to distinguish Dr. Holca’s actions from that of a street-corner drug dealer. He pocketed large sums of cash in exchange for prescription drugs without conducting physical exams, risking not only the lives of his own patients, but of others within his community as well,” said Paul R. Rodríguez, Acting Director of the Division of Consumer Affairs. “By permanently revoking his NJ CDS registration, the Board has acted to protect the public from this kind of appalling abuse of prescribing privileges and blatant disregard for public safety.”

According to the allegations contained in the State’s Complaint:

• Holca prescribed CDS painkillers to the undercover officer and other patients, without conducting physical examinations, creating written treatment plans, or performing consultations.
• The NJPMP and other records indicated that Holca repeatedly prescribed CDS to patients who showed various warning signs of addiction or drug diversion. In two cases, insurance or pharmacy benefit management companies warned Holca about the drug-related activities of specific patients. One company repeatedly notified Holca that a patient had obtained opioid narcotics from several pharmacies and multiple physicians. Even after receiving these notices, Holca continued to prescribe CDS to the patient.
• In another example, a patient repeatedly made excuses to ask for additional prescriptions – such as telling Holca that his prescription had been “stolen,” “left in stolen luggage,” or “washed in the laundry.” Holca continued to prescribe to this patient.
• In still another example, a note in Holca’s file for a patient indicated that Holca had reason to believe the patient was abusing Roxicet, Percocet, and Suboxone, and that he knew or believed the patient was obtaining Percocet from another physician – but that Holca continued to prescribe CDS to the patient.
• Although the undercover officer repeatedly told Holca that she had no medical need for the pills and that she misused them, on one occasion he asked her to provide a handwritten note justifying her need for the pills. He asked her to write that she had back pain, would not operate heavy machinery, and would not hold Holca responsible for problems.
• Holca’s office accepted cash payments from the undercover officer during each visit in which Holca prescribed painkillers. In a search of Holca’s home, police found more $120,000 in cash stashed in multiple envelopes hidden throughout the residence, including inside books, within chairs, under a mattress, in a closet wrapped in bed linens, and behind a framed picture hanging on the wall.
• During the search of Holca’s home, police also found two unlicensed loaded handguns, “long guns,” and twelve bags of marijuana, allegedly packaged for resale. Under the terms of the Consent Order filed on Tuesday, Holca’s NJ CDS registration, which allowed him to prescribe controlled substances in this state, is permanently revoked.

The Board also suspended Holca’s medical license for five years, effective April 8, 2014 – the date it was temporarily suspended by the Board. The Board will not reinstate Holca’s license until he demonstrates that he is fit to resume practice, including by providing proof that he has taken and successfully completed approved courses in medical ethics and medical recordkeeping.

Holca was also assessed a $100,000 civil penalty and $35,695 in attorneys’ fees. In light of the significant criminal forfeiture resulting from Holca’s guilty plea, the Board stayed the entirety of the civil penalty, provided Holca complies with the terms of the Consent Order.

The Division of Consumer Affairs’ Enforcement Bureau conducted this investigation, in partnership with the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration through its Camden Resident Office, and the Stafford Police Department.

Deputy Attorney General David M. Puteska, of the Division of Law’s Professional Boards Prosecution Section, represented the State in this matter.

TRENTON – Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced that a former meter reader and a former senior account clerk for the New Brunswick Water Department were sentenced to prison today in connection with schemes to reduce the water and sewer bills of numerous customers in return for bribes.

The following men were sentenced today by Superior Court Judge Robert Kirsch in Union County. Both men pleaded guilty on April 20, 2018 to second-degree official misconduct.

• Joseph “Gordo” DeBonis, 56, of Toms River, N.J., the former senior account clerk, was sentenced to five years in state prison, including two years of parole ineligibility; and

• William “Billi” Ortiz, 57, of North Brunswick, N.J., the former meter reader, was sentenced to five years in state prison, including one year of parole ineligibility.

Both men forfeited their public positions and pensions, and they are permanently barred from public employment. They are jointly and severally liable for any restitution owed to the city for the stolen water and sewer services, and they must forfeit their illegal proceeds from the schemes.

Deputy Attorneys General Anthony Robinson and Samantha McCluskey prosecuted the defendants and handled the sentencing hearings for the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.  The men were charged in an investigation by the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. Both men were suspended by the New Brunswick Water Department after they were initially charged on Nov. 30, 2016.

“By taking bribes and allowing customers to steal up to half a million dollars in city utility services, DeBonis and Ortiz profited at the expense of city residents,” said Attorney General Grewal. “These prison sentences demonstrate that we have zero tolerance for public employees who unlawfully use their positions of trust for personal gain.”

“These defendants engaged in a sustained pattern of corrupt conduct in which they took bribes from dozens of customers over a period of several years,” said Director Thomas Eicher of the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability. “There is no telling how long their criminal conduct might have continued or how much it might have cost the city if they had not been exposed by our investigation.”

Ortiz and DeBonis illegally reduced water and sewer bills for roughly 50 different properties over a period of several years in return for bribes totaling approximately $20,000. In one scheme involving both Ortiz and DeBonis, Ortiz served as the middleman and recruiter for DeBonis. Ortiz would solicit bribes from customers and then arrange for bill reductions through DeBonis, who had access as a senior account clerk to the city’s water and sewer database. After Ortiz received the bribe, he provided DeBonis with information about the customer’s properties, and DeBonis modified the customer’s water and sewer bills to dramatically reduce the charges. Fees were reduced at times by as much as 90 percent. DeBonis took a share of the bribe payments in return for falsifying the bills.

Ortiz also engaged in a second type of scheme. In this scheme, Ortiz would solicit bribes from customers in exchange for which he offered to switch out the customer’s water meter and install a faulty, antiquated brass meter – which he nicknamed the “thief” – that would keep the customer’s bill down by failing to record water usage. Ortiz would leave the properly working electronic meter on the premises and connected to power, and he would tell the customer to swap back the electronic meter near the end of the month, so the bill would not be suspiciously low.

It is estimated that the total loss to the City of New Brunswick as a result of the schemes perpetrated by Ortiz, Debonis and others was roughly $500,000.

Attorney General Grewal and Director Eicher noted that the Office of Public Integrity and Accountability has a toll-free Tipline 1-844-OPIA-TIPS for the public to report corruption, financial crimes and other illegal activities confidentially.

The Attorney General’s Office has an Anti-Corruption Reward Program that offers a reward of up to $25,000 for tips from the public leading to a conviction for a crime involving public corruption. Information is posted on the Attorney General’s website at: www.nj.gov/oag/corruption/reward.html.