Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron, Commissioner Steven E. Mikulski and former mayor Ernest Troiano Jr. have all pleaded not guilty to charges they submitted false records in order to qualify for the State Health Benefits Program as full-time city employees.
Byron, Mikulski, and Troiano made brief appearances in the Cape May County Courthouse last week to contest the recent indictment charging them with official misconduct, theft by unlawful taking, tampering with public records and falsifying or tampering with records.
Accompanied by their lawyers, all three entered not guilty pleas after rejecting the state’s plea offer of three years in prison, plus payback of nearly $1 million in premiums and claims from the State Health Benefits paid on their behalf by the taxpayers from 2011 to 2022.
“My client is not guilty, so he is not going to plead guilty,” said Eric Shenkus, an attorney with NJ Office of the Public Defender who is representing Byron. “If it takes a trial to prove it, then that’s what we’re going to do.”
The defense contends that the three Wildwood officials were declared full-time employees by a resolution that the commission adopted in 2011, and thus were eligible for enrollment in the state health plan. The state counters that to be considered a full-time employee, an elected official has to put in a steady 35 hours a week – and neither Byron, Mikulski nor Troiano ever did.
When it comes to a job, elected office is a grey area. Elected officials often claim they put in more than 35 hours a week, but they’ don’t usually submit timecards. But a 2010 change in state law said they had to be full-time employees to receive a major perk that many municipalities offered, enrollment in the State Health Benefits Program.
By contesting the charges, each defendant is not only hoping to avoid prison, but the huge payback in benefits that the Attorney General’s office claims were illegally obtained. The state is seeking $608,900 in restitution from Byron, $286,500 from Troiano, and $103,000 from Mikulski, according to the AG’s office.
Since 2010, New Jersey has required that elected officials be full-time employees to be enrolled in the State Health Benefits Program. A full-time employee is defined as one “whose hours are fixed at 35 or more a week.”
Troiano and Byron were elected to Wildwood’s three-member city commission in 2011, and Troiano was sworn in as mayor. That same year, both men voted to pass a resolution declaring themselves full-time employees who worked a minimum of 35 hours a week for Wildwood and subsequently enrolled in the SHBP.
Mikulski was elected in 2020 and then enrolled in the SHBP. His attorney, David Stefankiewicz, said Mikulski was under the impression that the 2011 Wildwood commission resolution authorized him to do so.
“At worst, this was an honest workplace mistake,” Stefankiewicz said when reached by phone on Wednesday. “Then the state comes in with a sledgehammer.”
In June of 2022, the Attorney General’s office filed criminal charges against the three Wildwood officials, alleging they were never full-time employees and were ineligible for the State Health Benefits Program. The state alleged that the three elected officials maintained no regular hours, and didn’t receive vacation or sick days like other full-time employees.
In announcing the charges, Matthew J. Platkin, who was acting attorney general at the time, called the offenses “egregious breaches of the public trust.”
But the defense says the case hinges on a technicality. “As a commissioner, you’re basically on duty 24/7,” said Stefankiewicz. “You don’t punch a clock.”
The indictment handed down earlier this month not only accuses Byron, Mikulski and Troiano of official misconduct for accepting the benefit, but of filing false information and tampering with documents to attest to their status as full-time employees.
Stefankiewicz said prior to the indictment, the state offered Mikulski a plea deal of probation. He refused, and the state upped the offer to three years in prison once after the grand jury handed down its indictment on March 10, he said.
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Richard Cowen may be reached at rcowen@njadvancemedia.com.
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