Former Sparta mayor faces sentencing
A former mayor of Sparta, convicted in July of misusing police databases for personal purposes, faces sentencing on Jan. 10 in Trenton.
Brian Brady, 52, of Sparta, was found guilty of second-degree counts of official misconduct and computer theft by Superior Court Judge Andrew J. Smithson following a six-week bench trial in Mercer County.
Brady, formerly a councilman and mayor in Sparta, also was a captain and the third-highest ranking officer in the state Department of Human Services Police Department. DHS immediately suspended Brady when he was charged by complaint in May 2011.
He served on the Sparta Township Council from 2006 to 2010 and was appointed by the council to the mayor’s office for a one-year term in 2008.
On Wednesday, Smithson denied a motion from Brady’s attorney, Mario A. Iavicoli, that asked the judge to reconsider his verdict, Peter Aseltine, a spokesman from the state Attorney General’s Office, said on Thursday.
Each of the misconduct charges carries a sentence of five to 10 years in state prison. The official misconduct charge carries a mandatory minimum term of five years without parole, while the computer theft charge carries a period of parole ineligibility equal to one-third to one-half of the sentence imposed. Brady also will be required to forfeit his public position and will be permanently barred from public employment.
Smithson acquitted Brady of other counts including theft by deception and tampering with public records. Those charges related to allegations that Brady submitted fraudulent time sheets that indicated he was working when he was traveling for personal pleasure or business, and that he used a state vehicle, state gas card and state-issued E-Z Pass on the personal trips. They also related to allegations that he filed fraudulent firearms qualification certificates.
“This police supervisor repeatedly treated a restricted law enforcement database like his personal information clearinghouse, even running background checks on all of the members of his minor league baseball team,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “There’s no room in law enforcement for this type of rogue behavior. I commend the trial team and investigators for ensuring that justice was done in this case.”
The Human Services Police provide police services at the developmental centers and psychiatric hospitals operated by the Department of Human Services. They also are assigned to protect offices and case workers for the Division of Youth and Family Services.
The state presented testimony and evidence at trial that Brady directed a subordinate employee to conduct background checks on members of his minor league baseball team using the FBI’s National Crime Information Center database, a secure database that is strictly regulated and restricted for police purposes. He also directed subordinate officers to use the police database and state databases to run a background check on a home health aide he was considering hiring for his mother.
Staff Writer William Westhoven: 973-428-6627; wwesthoven@dailyrecord.com.