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Trenton

Senate panel OKs

local judge's tenure

From staff and wire services

The state Senate Judiciary Committee approved Atlantic County Superior Court Judge William Nugent for permanent tenure Monday, sending his nomination to the full Senate. It is expected to be approved.

Nugent, who sits in the civil division, was unanimously approved after a brief hearing Monday afternoon. Prior to being nominated to the bench in 2002 by Gov. James E. McGreevey, Nugent worked in Atlantic County as county counsel, a municipal attorney and trial lawyer.

The position pays $165,000 annually.

Bill would let voters

fill Senate vacancy

A bill that would give voters the power to fill unexpected U.S. Senate seat vacancies instead of the governor has been introduced in the New Jersey Assembly.

The legislation being sponsored by incoming Assembly Democratic leader Joe Cryan calls for special elections to be held whenever a U.S. senator vacates a seat during the term.

Another Democratic Assemblyman, John McKeon, offered a bill requiring the governor to replace an outgoing senator with a member of the same political party.

Gov.-elect Chris Christie blasted that proposal as political gamesmanship.

Christie is a Republican. New Jersey's two senators, including 85-year-old Frank Lautenberg, are Democrats.

The governor currently can fill vacancies without regard to party, call a special election or leave the seat vacant until the next general election.

Newark

Ex-funeral director

put on probation

A former New Jersey funeral director has been sentenced to four years probation for his role in harvesting and selling body parts.

Robert Maitner Jr. was sentenced Monday in Newark as part of a plea agreement for admitting to one count of desecrating human remains. The 34-year-old Edison resident already served a 6-month sentence in New York in connection with the case.

The scandal emerged in 2006 when a group of funeral service providers were accused of cutting up corpses from funeral homes in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania without relatives' consent. They sold them to medical companies for transplants.

Maitner, who lost his funeral license in January, formerly owned Kiernan Funeral Home and Maitner Cremation Services in Belleville.

Credit card probe

nets another arrest

Authorities said a man wanted for his alleged role in a North Jersey loan-sharking and credit card fraud ring has surrendered.

Thirty-two-year-old Guy Madmon, of Fair Lawn, turned himself in Monday. He is charged with conspiracy to commit fraudulent use of credit cards.

Six others have been arrested in what Essex County Prosecutor Paula Dow says was a scheme that targeted struggling restaurant owners and their customers in Essex, Passaic and Morris counties.

Dow says owners were targeted for loans, and when they fell behind in their payments, the lenders demanded that the borrowers duplicate customers' credit card numbers.

Madmon's attorney Roger Bernhammer did not return a call for comment Monday.

Jersey City

Councilwoman

can keep her job

A judge ruled a Jersey City councilwoman who claimed for tax purposes that she lived in Florida can keep her New Jersey government job.

There was not enough evidence that Nidia Lopez was using her Orlando, Fla., home as a primary residence, Superior Court Judge Maurice Gallipoli ruled Friday.

An unsuccessful rival candidate challenged Lopez's residency when Lopez ran for the council position to which she was elected in May. Candidates must live in the district they wish to represent at least a year before seeking election.

Lopez claimed to be a Jersey City resident, arguing she returned to New Jersey in 2001 after marrying. She also owns a home in Orlando and used that dwelling as her primary residence to qualify for a Florida homestead tax break.

Gallipoli found that Lopez showed reasonable intention to use her New Jersey home as her main residence.

Gallipoli, however, also criticized Lopez for alleged tax transgressions. Gallipoli wrote he was "mystified" by Lopez's explanations as to why she failed to pay New Jersey taxes from 2001 to 2009, but the judge ruled such issues weren't relevant to the residency question.

Lopez lawyer William Northgrave said his client was looking forward to serving her constituents now that the case was resolved.

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