Middlesex County Man Pleads Guilty to Receiving More Than $50,000 Worth of Stolen Property and Selling the Items Online
TRENTON – March 12, 2014 – (RealEstateRama) — Acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman announced that a Middlesex County man pleaded guilty today to receiving more than $50,000 worth of stolen property, which he subsequently sold on Craigslist.com.
Norberto Campos, 31, of Carteret, pleaded guilty to third-degree receiving stolen property before Superior Court Judge Dennis Nieves in Middlesex County. The charge was contained in a criminal accusation filed by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.
Judge Nieves scheduled sentencing for June 9. Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that Campos be sentenced to between three and five years in state prison.
In pleading guilty, Campos admitted that between January and April 2013, he received approximately $51,000 worth of stolen property. Specifically, Campos admitted that he received the contents of a stolen 2007 Ford Econoline van, which was owned by a Middlesex County plumbing company. The contents of the stolen vehicle were provided to Campos by Jose D. Lopez. Lopez, aka “Cholo,” of South Amboy, was sentenced in September 2013 to 15 years in state prison after pleading guilty to promoting organized street crime by supervising a ring that stole over 100 vehicles worth a total of more than $550,000, including contractors’ vehicles.
An undercover investigation by the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor determined that after receiving the stolen property, Campos sold the majority of the items, such as an industrial “plumbing snake,” various drills, sawzalls, saws, and other miscellaneous tools, on Craigslist.com. Campos was arrested on June 15, 2013 and has been out of jail on $50,000 bail.
Also today, Campos pleaded guilty to first-degree felony robbery, a separate charge in an unrelated matter. That charge was brought by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office. Under the plea agreement, Campos’ sentence for both matters will run concurrently.
Deputy Attorney General T.J. Harker, Sgt. Jarek Pyrzanowski, Detectives Wendy Berg and Jonathan Berman and Analyst Kelly Celenza coordinated the investigation. Acting Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi thanked the Woodbridge and Perth Amboy Police Departments for their assistance in the investigation.
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