NJ Transit Train Conductor Charged in Ticketing Scheme
Police say the crime occurred on the North Jersey Coast Line over the past year.
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A NJ Transit train conductor and his accomplice are accused of operating a scheme to defraud the transit agency of thousands of dollars of ticket money over a one-year period.
Conductor Robert Broschart, 49, of Howell and Phillip Swanger, 45, of Bradley Beach were arrested following a seven-month investigation by the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office and NJ TRANSIT Police. Broschart faces charges of official misconduct, theft and conspiracy. Swanger is charged with theft and conspiracy.
The scheme depended on the complicity of "multiple" commuter-passengers, who paid Broschart, not NJ Transit, for their fares, said police. According to the report of the seven month investigation, Swanger recruited the commuters to pay Broschart a significantly reduced fare price on a monthly or quarterly basis on the North Jersey Coast Line between Penn Station, NY and Bay Head, NJ.
Broschart would then pretend he was checking the passenger's ticket, to make it look like the proper fare had been paid, police said. Authorities were alerted to the scam by a tip.
“New Jersey Transit employees who abuse their authority and criminally violate the public trust will be held accountable and charged for their illegal actions,” said New Jersey Transit Chief of Police Christopher Trucillo. “The public should be aware that purchase of NJ TRANSIT tickets should only be made through authorized vendors." He commended the work by NJ Transit detectives and the county prosecutor's office.
Following their arrests, Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Thomas F. Scully set the bail for Broschart at $75,000 no 10% and Swanger at $25,000 with 10% allowed.
Broschart is charged with second degree official misconduct, third degree theft and third degree conspiracy. He could face a maximum of ten years in jail for the official misconduct charge, and up to five years imprisonment on each of the third degree charges of theft and conspiracy.
Swanger is charged with third degree theft and third degree conspiracy, which can be punishable by up to five years’ imprisonment in New Jersey state prison.
The case is assigned to Assistant Prosecutor Michael J. Costanzo of the Office’s Special Prosecutions Bureau. Defense counsel has not yet entered an appearance on behalf of either Broschart or Swanger.
The investigation into this matter continues. Anyone with knowledge of
Brochart’s or Swanger’s activities, or the illegal sale of NJ TRANSIT tickets, is asked to contact Detective Sergeant John Maggs of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office at (732) 431-7160 Ext. 5839 or Detective Michael Bavosa of the NJ TRANSIT Police at (973) 491-8953.
Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the United States Constitution and State law.
Anonymous Co-worker
7:29 am on Thursday, March 1, 2012
He lucked ran out this time. You'd think he learned his lesson the first time he got caught, fired, rehired and given almost $90,000 in back pay. What an idiot. All this while another conductor sits in jail for the same thing, but on a much, much lesser scale. Hey NJT, treat everybody fairly, don't lock one guy up and rehire the next. Not only is it not fair but it makes the company look very biased in the eyes of the current honest employees.
Claudine Scozzari
8:58 am on Thursday, March 1, 2012
To Anonymous Co-worker:
That is how the Attorney General runs the State Worker cases. If what you say is true and a job loss didn't occur, the attorney general's office couldn't indict. The local authorities had to intervene. At least this was only $100g's, not millions or billions of dollars like this State has seen over the past 20 years in and out of a court room.
The State Attorney General for the past twenty years can't make a simple case as it pertains to monetary funds. And, the tax payers are paying the salaries of a number of people who mismanage the NJ State tax dollar. And, much of the mismanagement is because the union and the Attorney General don't prevent it from occurring.
In fact in most cases, the lawyers and judges in the State reward the State workers for behavior that in the private sector would be illegal. The State businesses and the consultants that work for those State businesses made it their business to make sure the law was followed.
Because the State consultants know the State workers can careless about their State.
Anonymous Co-worker
9:30 am on Thursday, March 1, 2012
Thank you providing that info. And yes, everything I said was true.
Claudine Scozzari
10:58 am on Thursday, March 1, 2012
To Anonymous Co-worker:
That person who was fired is not alone. The ongoings as it pertains to the DOT and the Attorney General's office is sickening. The DOT (NJ Transit, DOT, NJTA, NJHA, MTAs, DVRA) State workers who are on the payroll are being protected by the union, and there are a bunch of financial people working at the commissioner's office who are driving the State policy. And, in most cases the State policy is in direct violation of federal law. And, the financial people running the State government haven't a clue about how the civil engineering industry works.
And, when you speak to an DAG (deputy attorney general) about serious issues at the DOT they either sound like they are affirmative action goals promoted under J. Harvey or have thick Middle Eastern accents who reply "I don't know." when you give them a quote of federal law.
And, no one cares over at the State. During the time when the DOT needed legal representation because the financial folks where bleeding the State dry, the lawyers and judges ruled in favor of the group with the most money which was in direct violation of federal law.
To that employee who was fired from the "DOT agency", I would consider that the "Oscar Award" for taking a hit for the State of New Jersey. Without that firing, the local officials may never have occurred and the NJ tax payer would be enabling the illegal activity that is and has been running amuck at the DOT and the Attorney General's Office.
Marjorie Smith
10:04 pm on Thursday, March 1, 2012
How nice...these perps are not making enough money on the private sector so they have to steal from us in other ways.
Nick J
7:30 am on Friday, March 2, 2012
I’m amazing how much effort NJT & Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office can place on stopping theft, but lacks the same emphasis on passenger Safety at stations and crossing!
Claudine Scozzari
7:41 am on Friday, March 2, 2012
The case probabily fell into the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office accidentally. In the normal course of business, the local authorities don't patrol DOT agencies.
An act of intervention has to be initiated and the entire investigation has to be processed through DOT internal investigations. The Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office probably got leftovers.
TheAberdeen5
11:24 am on Monday, March 5, 2012
I don't really blame these guys. They were probably looking for some way to pass the time of the routine 20-40 minute delays on every trip in and out of the city. I guess it's true what they say, "idle hands are the devil's workshop". No real worries for those guys, they will do well in Gen. Pop. in the joint. Train Conducters are considered tops in the hiarchy within the Sate penn.
Claudine Scozzari
11:34 am on Monday, March 5, 2012
Good to know the Division of Corrections is placing people can they trust in their department. When did Gregory Vida get transferred to head the Human Resource Department over at the Department of Transportation? Was is it during McGreevy's administration?
Back in the summer of 2004, the human resource department was trying to populate BRIDGE MAINTENANCE with police officers from traffic investigations. If I had not been in the department to witness an actual interview, I would not believe it.
NJ Commuter
7:27 am on Tuesday, March 6, 2012
If the fares weren't so damn high, people wouldn't feel like they have to steal their rides. LOWER THE FARES, NJ TRANSIT!
I'm sure NJ transit will find some way to raise the fares somehow because of this. CROOKED SHYSTERS!
NJTCommuter
12:32 pm on Tuesday, March 6, 2012
The law is the law, no matter what the case is. You break it, you pay for it. People should know by now that when you try to cheat the system, you eventually get caught.