Defendant Sentenced in Murder for Hire Trial

FREEHOLD, NEW JERSEY – On Friday, September 5, 2014, the Honorable Francis J. Vernoia, P.J.Cr., sentenced defendant Jay R. Goldberg, 64, of Little Egg Harbor, NJ, to a 20 year period of incarceration, the maximum sentence permitted by law.
The sentencing stems from a June 27, 2014, verdict in which a jury found Goldberg guilty of two first degree crimes for the conspiracy to commit and attempted murder of former Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Steven N. Cucci. The trial was prosecuted by Executive Assistant Prosecutor Michel A. Paulhus and Assistant Prosecutor Jamie L. Schron. Detective Brian Haggerty, of the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit, was the lead investigator.

In the June trial’s opening statement by Assistant Prosecutor Jamie L. Schron, she explained to the jury that Goldberg hated Cucci and blamed him for all of his problems. “This was payback,” Schron explained. Executive Assistant Prosecutor Paulhus at trial explained to the jury that Goldberg did everything he could from inside the Jail to see that Cucci was murdered. “What the defendant did was the height of lawlessness,” Paulhus argued.

Detectives Brian Haggerty and Thomas Tiernan from the Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office and Sergeant Michael Delanoy from the Ocean County Jail testified in the June trial that an inmate had a recorded conversation with Goldberg inside of the Jail. During the conversation, Goldberg discussed his plot to have Cucci killed and how he planned to pay for it. The inmate suggested that Goldberg meet with his associate “Victor,” a member of Russian organized crime to have the murder plot carried out.

A few days later, an undercover detective from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office posing as “Victor” met with Goldberg twice in the Jail. Their meetings were also recorded and played for the jury. During their meetings, Goldberg hired “Victor” and gave him a letter to send to his sister and brother-in-law asking for $15,000. Goldberg wrote that the money was for a new attorney, but the jury heard and saw evidence that it was actually payment for Cucci’s murder.

Mr. Cucci had been the Assistant Prosecutor assigned to prosecute Goldberg for other crimes in 2009. Those charges resulted in convictions in 2012 for the Aggravated Manslaughter of Goldberg’s neighbor, Sarkis Shahinian, and Maintaining a Controlled Dangerous Substance Production Facility, both first degree crimes. Goldberg is currently serving a 20 year sentence at South Woods State Prison for that conviction.
At sentencing Mr. Cucci addressed the Court and described Goldberg as a narcissist with a “broken moral compass.” Assistant Prosecutor Schron argued for the maximum period of incarceration and asked Judge Vernoia to run the sentence consecutive to the sentence Goldberg’s is presently serving at South Woods Stare Prison. Assistant Prosecutor Schron stated, “The defendant sought to murder an innocent public servant to avoid the consequences of his criminal actions.” She also characterized Goldberg’s testimony at trial, which was “clearly rejected by the jury, as “nonsense”.
Goldberg’s attorney, Assistant Deputy Public Defender Van Lane, unsuccessfully argued for a concurrent sentence. In imposing the 20-year consecutive term, in which Goldberg must serve 85 percent pursuant to the No Early Release Act, Judge Vernoia stated, the defendant is a “selfish human being willing to take whatever action necessary to help himself.” Judge Vernoia went on to state that “defendant’s propensity for violence is unspeakable.”
After Goldberg was sentenced, he stated, “Do you realize you sentenced me until I’m 100 years old?” Judge Vernoia replied, “Yes, I most certainly do.”