Investigation Finds Three Gloucester County Sheriffs Double-Dipping

An investigation by New Jersey Watchdog has found that three Gloucester County sheriffs and undersheriffs are among 51 in the state of New Jersey that are collecting pension money on top of their regular salary.

The group's release includes Sheriff Carmel Morina of Greenwich Twp., Undersheriff Joseph O'Leary from the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office and Undersheriff Glenn Hammell of Monroe as the three officers who are collecting both retirement pay and their salaries. A full list of the 51 officers named in the report can be found in the attached PDF above.

The officers found to be double-dipping in this investigation are doing so legally due to loopholes in Gov. Chris Christie's pension reform. According to the Watchdog group, officers who participate in the state's police pension program are eligible for a “special” retirement after putting in 25 years of service. The officers found in this investigation were able to keep their positions while still collecting their pension as a retired officer through numerous loopholes in the law.

This is not the first time an investigation has been done into this specific case. New Jersey Watchdog also performed this investigation last year and found 40 officers double-dipping. That number has risen in 2012.

A bill proposed by State Sen. Jennifer Beck (R-Monmouth) that would suspend state pension payments for anyone earning over $15,000 per year stalled in committee earlier this year and no further progress has been made.