DEFENDANTS SENTENCED FOR IGNORING REGISTRATION REQUIREMENT
The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Megan’s Law Unit announced the sentencing of three men in three separate unrelated cases over the last two weeks for Failing to Register Pursuant to Megan’s Law. These laws were made effective on Monday, October 31, 1994 by the New Jersey Legislature and are part and parcel of the Megan’s Law and / or Registration and Community Notification Laws. The New Jersey Legislature upgraded this crime to a third (3RD) degree from a fourth (4TH) degree if the crime occurred on or after Tuesday, July 1, 2014.
The most recent sentence came on Friday (2/22) when the Honorable Melanie D. Appleyby, J.S.C., sentenced Gregory J. Torrez, 38, of Toms River Township, to a period of three hundred sixty four (364) days to the Ocean County Justice Facility as a condition of probation as a result of a guilty plea he entered on Monday December 21, 2015 for the third (3rd) degree crime of failing to register pursuant to Megan’s Law in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2d(1) before the Honorable Linda G. Baxter. Additionally, part of his sentence is to continue his obligations to register once released from jail and all probation conditions imposed by the court. The crime date occurred on or about October 28, 2015 out of Toms River Township and former Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Detective Adam J. Hess initiated the complaint. The defendant’s bail was set at $35,000 no 10% and he has been continuously incarcerated. The defendant knowingly failed to register his current address with the Toms River Township Police Department 10 days prior to the change of his address.
On Friday (2/22) the Honorable Melanie D. Appleyby, J.S.C., sentenced William E. Bennett, 34, of Toms River Township, to a period of three hundred sixty four (364) days to the Ocean County Justice Facility as a condition of probation as a result of a guilty plea he entered on Monday, December 21, 2015, for the third (3rd) degree crime of failing to register pursuant to Megan’s Law in violation of N.J.S.A. 2C:7-2d(1) before the Honorable Linda G. Baxter. Additionally, part of his sentence is to continue his obligations to register once released from jail and all probation conditions imposed by the court. The crime date occurred on or about August 17, 2015 out of Toms River Township and Detective John M. Argento initiated the complaint. The defendant’s bail was set at $30,000 no 10% and he has been continuously incarcerated. The defendant knowingly failed to register his current address with the Toms River Township Police Department 10 days prior to the change of his address.
Also on Friday (2/22) the Honorable Melanie D. Appleby, J.S.C., sentenced Maurice L. Thomas, 33, of the Borough of Seaside Heights, to a period of 364 days to the Ocean County Justice Facility for various guilty pleas he entered on Monday, December 21, 2015, for three (3) third degree crimes of violating Community Supervision for Life (CSL) and two (2) third degree crimes of failing to register pursuant to Megan’s Law before the Honorable Linda G. Baxter. Additionally, part of his sentence is to continue his obligations to register once released from jail and continue on CSL. Moreover, under the mandates of the new law, the defendant will be subject to Parole Supervision for Life (PSL). The crime dates are various and occurred out of the Borough of Seaside Heights and Toms River Township. Senior Parole Officers Jessica Swarer and Mark Grausso were involved with initiating the CSL complaints, Detective Lawrence Mayberry of the Seaside Heights Police Department initiated a failure to register complaint and Detective Mark Bajada of the Toms River Police Department initiated another failure to register complaint. The defendant’s bail was set at $10,000 no 10% and he has been continuously incarcerated since May 18, 2015. The defendant knowingly failed to register his current address with the Toms River Township Police Department 10 days prior to the change of his address, along with not complying with his conditions of CSL.
All three cases were prosecuted by Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Ehsan F. Chowdhry of the Megan’s Law Unit of the Special Investigations Bureau.
Gregory J. Torrez
William E. Bennett
Maurice L. Thomas
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