May 28, 2008
By TOM HOWELL JR.
NEWTON — Former Vernon Township Manager Don Teolis admitted Tuesday that he used thousands of public dollars for personal trips with a female employee between March 2004 and October 2006.
Teolis, 51, faces five years in prison after pleading guilty in Superior Court to second-degree official misconduct. He must repay the township $13,796, money he used to finance an affair with township employee Annette Yankalunas.
Judge N. Peter Conforti will decide whether to sentence Teolis in accordance with the plea on July 18. Teolis has accrued time against the pending sentence in the Sussex County jail since his arrest at John F. Kennedy Airport in January.
Current Township Manager Melinda Carlton and Police Chief Roy Wherry sat in the front row of the courtroom on Tuesday.
"I guess I just needed to see the judiciary in action," Carlton said, adding it is time to move forward.
The township has placed more checks and balances on its finances, including an additional signature on its vouchers, Carlton said.
The plea brings some closure to the public saga, which began when Councilman Jim Oroho reported irregularities in vouchers Teolis had submitted for reimbursement in December 2006, officials said.
During a yearlong investigation by prosecutor's Detective Patrick Higgins, facts surrounding Teolis' September 2006 trip to San Antonio with Yankalunas led investigators to question trips to Florida, San Francisco, Boston, Philadelphia, New York and Washington, D.C., the prosecutor's office said.
Authorities alleged that Teolis used township funds for Sea World tickets, a cruise in Miami and other personal expenses, and that he billed the township for conferences or services that may or may not have existed.
Yankalunas, 43, of Milford, Pa., will avoid criminal prosecution on charges she falsified records regarding a hotel stay with Teolis in San Antonio.
She was admitted Tuesday to the Pre-Trial Intervention program for a span of 12 months. The criminal charge will be dismissed if she completes 60 hours of community service, pays fines and follows all rules of probation.
In court, Assistant Prosecutor Gregory Mueller said Yankalunas' resolution was much less severe because she "was far less culpable than Mr. Teolis, and there was a substantial amount of cooperation by this defendant."
Her attorney, Paris Eliades, said Yankalunas may have the opportunity to be rehired by the township.
"I don't think she fully appreciated that public funds were being utilized," he said.
Teolis' location remained a mystery after the charges were filed in December.
Teolis said that after his resignation as township manager in February he moved to San Antonio to live with his son and teach for the Test of English as a Foreign Language.
His attorney, Gerard Hanlon, said Teolis flew from Brussels, Belgium, to New York to turn himself in on Jan. 30 after he completed a job in Italy.
There were more teaching opportunities in Europe than in Texas, Teolis said in January.
Teolis had resigned from his Vernon post — citing "disrespect and animosity" from the township — shortly after he was charged with striking his wife.
He still faces assault charges for the alleged assault, but his wife has said she does not want the prosecution to proceed.
Teolis will be an ideal candidate for the Intensive Supervision Program — a strict form of probation — after he serves six months of his term, Hanlon has said.
A panel of three judges would review Teolis' application for ISP, which typically entails weekly probation visits and random house checks, attorneys said.
