Ex-Brick Township Administrator awaits sentencing in pay-to-play scheme

Former Brick Township Administrator Scott MacFadden appears headed for up to 364 days in the Ocean County Jail for his role in funneling political money illegally through his job at the former Birdsall Services engineering firm.

MacFadden, 61, of Brick, pleaded guilty today to a third-degree charge of misconduct by a corporate official, admitting that he took part in a plan to circumvent New Jersey's pay-to-play law, according to information from the office of acting New Jersey Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

His plea bargain also requires him to pay $30,000 to the state, representing forfeiture of the reimbursements given to him by the company for his contributions on its behalf.

MacFadden served as Township Administrator as recently as the administration of Mayor Joe Scarpelli, who pleaded guilty to a bribery-related charge in 2007 and was later sentenced.

The onetime chief administrative officer of the now-defunct Monmouth county firm has a June 3 sentencing date before Ocean County Superior Court Judge James Den Uyl. Two of the other six staffers and executives indicted in 2013 also took guilty pleas and await sentencing.

Indictments originally surfaced in March 2013 against former CEO Howard Birdsall, 72, of Brielle, MacFadden, and five others. They were accused of funnelling money to political organizations under the pretense of personal contributions by workers.

Prosecutors contended that the arrangement, for at least six years, allowed Birdsall to fund political campaigns and organizations with hundreds of thousands of influential dollars, without appearing to violate the law that would disqualify it from public contracts by various government agencies.

Employees allegedly kept contributions to $300 or less, below reporting range, and were reimbursed by the company through bonuses. Investigators said that the company then omitted the reimbursements from filings with the Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC) and with government agencies that awarded contracts to it.

The firm, as an entity, pleaded guilty in June 2013 to charges of money laundering and false representations for government contracts. The company paid a total of $1,000,000 in penalties, for public corruption profiteering and for anti-money-laundering profiteering. According to Hoffman, the $500,000 penalties were the largest allowed by state law.

Birdsall Services also paid $2,600,000 to the state to settle the civil forfeiture case filed by the Attorney General's office.

The first trail related to the indictments, for former Birdsall executive vice-president Thomas Rospos, 63, of Belmar, is scheduled for February 22 in Ocean County.

Conviction on the first-degree counts of conspiracy and money laundering would mean sentences of 10 to 20 years on conviction. Money laundering also carries a potential fine as high as $1,000,000.

Former Birdsall marketing director Eileen Kufahl, 51, of Bradley Beach, and marketing staffer Philip Angarone, 43, of Hamilton, await sentencing for their guilty please.