Jeffrey J. Manning, 47, of Irvington, was sentenced to three years in state prison by Superior Court Judge Sherry Hutchins-Henderson in Essex County. Manning pleaded guilty on Nov. 15 to third-degree theft by deception. Manning was ordered to pay full restitution. A charge of theft by deception remains pending against a second man, Kevin S. Cropper, 28, of East Orange, who was charged with Manning in June 2013.

In pleading guilty, Manning admitted that he stole funds from Programs for Parents (PfP) using checks for a PfP checking account that were obtained without authorization and endorsed with a forged signature. In some instances, Manning made the checks payable to himself or another person and deposited or cashed them at banks. Other times, he wrote checks to purchase cell phones and accessories from T-Mobile or Verizon Wireless. Cropper allegedly participated with Manning in the same conduct.

Deputy Attorneys General Heather Taylor and Vincent J. Militello prosecuted the case. Taylor handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice. The defendants were charged in an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau and the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.

“In stealing thousands of dollars from this community service organization, Manning and his alleged accomplices were effectively stealing from the struggling parents and young children the organization serves,” said Acting Attorney General Hoffman. “This was a despicable crime.”

“Sadly, public assistance programs and public service organizations are targeted all too frequently by con artists,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “By sending criminals like this one to prison, we are working to protect such programs and the people they serve.”

Two women, LaToya Gordon, 25, and Marion Smith, 27, both of Newark, were arrested on charges that they assisted Manning and Cropper in the scheme. They were admitted into the Pre-Trial Intervention program. As a condition of PTI, they will be jointly and severally liable with Manning for paying full restitution to the Program for Parents. Both are permanently barred from public employment. If they successfully complete PTI, the charges against them will be dismissed.

The state’s investigation began in October 2011, when the director for PfP reported to police that 12 unauthorized checks totaling $52,842 had been written against the organization’s bank account between Oct. 2 and Oct. 19, 2011. It was discovered that two unauthorized orders had been placed with a check supplier for a total of 6,500 checks for the PfP checking account, using PfP’s account information. It is alleged that Smith obtained the information about PfP’s checking account while working as a bank teller, and supplied it to Cropper. The check orders were billed to PfP, but the checks were mailed to an address used by Manning in Elizabeth. PfP closed the bank account after discovering the unauthorized checks.

PfP, which has offices in Newark and Montclair, receives state and federal funds to provide subsidies to low-income working parents to assist them in paying daycare expenses for their children The maximum monthly payment at the time of the thefts was $573 for a child enrolled in daycare full time, and $286 for a child enrolled part time. PfP makes checks payable to daycare providers on a monthly basis. It does not make checks payable to parents.

Nine of the 12 unauthorized checks identified by PfP were made payable to several different individuals, including Manning and Gordon. Those checks were cashed or deposited in personal accounts at various banks. The remaining three checks were used by Manning – or, it is alleged, Cropper – for purchases from T-Mobile and Verizon. All of the fraudulent checks were endorsed with the name of a single PfP board member, whose signature was forged.

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