May 17, 2011By JESSICA MASULLI
SPARTA — Brian Brady, a former mayor and councilman of Sparta, was placed on administrative leave from his position of police captain of the New Jersey Human Services Police Tuesday while he faces charges of submitting false timesheets and firearms qualification certificates, and misusing police search databases, according to the Attorney General’s Office.
Brady, the third highest ranking officer in the Human Services Police, was charged with three counts of second-degree official misconduct and one count of second-degree pattern of official misconduct. The Human Services Police provide services to the developmental centers and psychiatric hospitals operated by the Department of Human Services.
If convicted, Brady could face maximum sentences of 10 years in state prison on each official misconduct charge and a consecutive sentence on the pattern of official misconduct charge. This includes five years without possibility of parole, according to the Attorney General.
Brady’s attorney, Mario Iavicoli, disputed the charges and said Brady was being retaliated against for complaining to superiors about having to take on extra responsibilities, the Associated Press said.
Brady pleaded not guilty in court, his attorney said, and was released without having to post bail, according to the Associated Press.
Brady, who earns a salary of $101,000, allegedly took personal time off and falsified timesheets to say that he had worked, the Attorney General’s Office said.
“On some of these personal trips, including travel outside of the state of New Jersey, he allegedly used a state vehicle and state-issued E-Z pass,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
Iavicoli said Brady drove the state vehicle when he was on call, at odd hours, and actually gave back vacation time that he didn’t use, according to the Associated Press.
Brady is also alleged to have done police background checks for a team’s manager on every member of a minor league baseball team. He is also alleged to have checked the database for a vehicle he wanted to purchase and to have falsified his own qualifications to use a firearm.
“The police database is to be used strictly for criminal justice purposes and not to be used for personal gain,” the Attorney General’s Office said.
Iavicoli said authorities were going overboard in charging Brady for doing an improper background check that Brady thought would “benefit the community,” according to the Associated Press.
“He thought he had the discretionary right to do the lookup,” Iavicoli said. “We believe they wanted to replace him and this is the method they are using.”
Messages left on Brady’s cellphone were not returned.
The charges stemmed from an ongoing investigation by the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau and New Jersey Department of Human Services, to which Brady’s department provides police services. The Department of Human Services suspended Brady until a hearing.
“The police captain allegedly abused his office by falsifying and misusing official records to serve his own purposes,” said Attorney General Paula Dow. “There is no room for dishonest conduct on the part of a sworn law enforcement officer.”
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor said that police officers must be held to higher standards.
Brady was on the Sparta Township Council for four years starting in 2006. Under his term, Brady and two other council members, Michael Spekhardt and Manny Goldberg, acted together to approve the purchase of the Limecrest Quarry for $2.45 million, create a garbage utility and resulting townwide referendum, and contract local health services out to the county. Public outcry over many of the council's decisions led in 2008 to recall petitions for the three council members. The petition petitions failed to get the required number of signatures in time. Brady did not run for re-election in 2010.
