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A Superior Court judge today ordered the Monmouth County Prosecutor to provide more specifics about the criminal charges leveled against a podiatrist accused of manipulating Spring Lake widow Madeleine Stockdale, before allowing the case to go forward.
Finding that the charges of theft and theft by deception against Ronald J. Sollitto, the podiatrist, and Michael A. Casale, the lawyer who prepared a discredited Stockdale will, were insufficient to mount a defense, judge Ira E. Kreizman gave the prosecutor until Dec. 26 to better define the charges.
The judge's ruling supported motions by attorneys representing the pair who claimed the charges, as written, were too vague.
"Make clear what the lie is,'' Casale's attorney, Edward Plaza, pleaded during oral arguments. "What were the acts of deception?''
Sollitto, a former friend and neighbor of Stockdale, last year lost a lengthy and bitter battle over the multimillion-dollar estate of Stockdale, who died in April 2000.
A Superior Court Judge on Friday refused to dismiss six of the nine criminal charges facing Ronald Sollitto, the podiatrist who in 2004 lost a lengthy civil court battle over the multimillion-dollar estate of Spring Lake widow Madeleine Stockdale.
Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman dismissed one count regarding the handling of a check but let stand six charges, which range from forgery and record tampering to neglect of an elderly person.
The two most serious charges Sollitto faces … second-degree counts of conspiracy to commit theft by deception, and theft by deception … were not included in Friday's proceeding.
Sollitto's attorney, John S. Furlong, said he will request a dismissal of those two charges next month, and Kreizman is scheduled to rule on that request March 31.
But following yesterday's outcome, Furlong was not optimistic about the prospects for dismissal in March.
"To quote Bob Dylan, "You don't have to be a weatherman to see which way the wind blows,' '' Furlong said, citing Kreizman's refusal to dismiss the lesser charges.
The criminal charges were returned by a grand jury against Sollitto, 54, in November 2004, about four months after a civil court judge denied him any claim to the Stockdale estate. The estate, which includes a beach-block home on two lots in Spring Lake, is valued at approximately $6 million.
In that 2004 civil trial, Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner found that Sollitto and attorney Michael A. Casale, who prepared a Stockdale will that made Sollitto her primary beneficiary, conspired to wrest the widow's fortune from her.
In discrediting the will that made Sollitto the primary beneficiary, Reisner ruled the Spring Lake First Aid Squad is the legitimate heir to the Stockdale estate. Reisner's decision has been appealed by Sollitto and Casale, and oral arguments in that case could be heard by a three-judge panel in Trenton as early as the spring.
The subsequent criminal charges leveled against Sollitto totaled nine counts: conspiracy to commit theft by deception and theft by deception, which are second-degree crimes; forgery (a fourth-degree crime); falsifying or tampering with records (fourth-degree); four counts of theft (each third-degree), and neglect of an elderly person (third-degree).
Casale, 58, faces two criminal counts: conspiracy to commit theft by deception and theft by deception. He also is expected to seek dismissal of those counts next month.
If convicted of all charges, Sollitto faces a potential combined prison sentence of 45 years. Additional fines could total $400,000.
If Casale is convicted, he could face a prison sentence of 15 years and fines of $300,000.
In refusing to dismiss six of the seven charges facing Sollitto Friday, Judge Kreizman rejected Sollitto's claim that the grand jury that issued the indictments was not provided sufficient evidence by the prosecutor.
Nevertheless, Kreizman did dismiss one count against Sollitto, failure to make required disposition, in which the podiatrist was charged with failing to deposit a check in Stockdale's name into Stockdale's bank account.
Noting that Sollitto did not deposit the $3,000 check into his own personal account, and, in fact, never cashed the check at all, Kreizman said there was no evidence that Sollitto treated the check as his own, and he therefore dismissed the charge.
Asbury Park Press are reporting: Sollitto wants to avoid trial in Monmouth
Attorney cites extensive coverage of Stockdale case
Quote:
Ronald Sollitto, the podiatrist charged with manipulating an elderly Spring Lake widow into leaving him her fortune, has requested his criminal trial be conducted outside Monmouth County, where a poll indicates many potential jurors already have formed opinions on the case.
Citing the "extensive coverage" by the Asbury Park Press of the civil battle between Sollitto and the Spring Lake First Aid Squad over the multimillion-dollar estate of Madeleine Stockdale, Sollitto's attorney has asked for a venue change "to protect Dr. Sollitto's Sixth Amendment right to a fair trial by an impartial jury."
State Superior Court Judge Ira E. Kreizman is scheduled to conduct a hearing on the motion Oct. 13 in his Freehold courtroom.
Sollitto, 55, was indicted in November 2004 and charged with nine criminal counts, including the second-degree counts of conspiracy to commit theft by deception and theft by deception.
Other charges include forgery, record-tampering and neglect of an elderly person. A lesser charge was dismissed in May.
If convicted of all charges, Sollitto would face a potential combined prison sentence of 45 years and fines totaling $400,000.
The criminal charges were filed about four months after Superior Court Judge Ronald Lee Reisner found that Sollitto and attorney Michael A. Casale, who prepared a Stockdale will that made Sollitto her primary beneficiary, conspired to wrest the widow's $6 million fortune from her.
In discrediting that will, Reisner ruled the Spring Lake First Aid Squad is the legitimate heir to the Stockdale estate. Stockdale died in 2000 at age 91.
Sollitto and Casale, 59, who was also named in the second-degree criminal charges, have appealed Reisner's decision. The appeals court has yet to schedule oral arguments.
Both the civil and criminal charges against Sollitto and Casale have resulted in a "saturation of publicity" about the case, especially in the Asbury Park Press, according to Sollitto's attorney John S. Furlong.
In his motion for a change of venue, Furlong cites a poll, conducted for the defense in July by Zogby International, that found 41 percent of respondents were familiar with the case. The number jumps to 75 percent for daily readers of the Press, the poll states.
About one-quarter of the respondents said they have already formed an opinion of the defendants; among Press readers, 40 percent said they have formed an opinion.
The poll is based on telephone interviews with 602 Monmouth County residents, each of whom was asked approximately 17 questions.
"The (Press') extensive coverage of the (civil court) judge's opinion, which included successive days of front page headlines and an Internet link to the decision itself, has undoubtedly corrupted the prospective jury pool in Monmouth County," Furlong wrote in his brief to the court.
He added that the Press published 60 stories about the Stockdale estate prior to the grand jury indictment and that 32 stories appeared on the front page of the Press in the year preceding the indictment.
"One can only imagine the publicity which will accompany the (criminal) trial," Furlong wrote.
The attorney also said the court should order a change of venue based on "clear evidence of hostility toward the defendant" in the community.
Furlong cited reports of heckling directed at Sollitto during the civil trial and the results of an Asbury Park Press poll, conducted before the civil trial concluded, in which 91 percent of readers who responded said they would decide against Sollitto.
The Asbury Park Press are reporting: Insurance fraud nets podiatrist 3 years
Quote:
A former Freehold podiatrist was sentenced to three years in prison Friday for fraudulently attempting to obtain more than $85,000 in disability payments, according to Attorney General Stuart Rabner and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw.
Jonathan B. Siegel, 47, of Freehold was sentenced to three years by Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. in Monmouth County.
Siegel was ordered to pay $33,574 in restitution to Unum Life Insurance Company of North America, representing the total amount he was overpaid as a result of the fraud, according to state Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown. The sentence followed Siegel's guilty plea to attempted theft by deception, a charge contained in a March 6, 2006, Monmouth County grand jury indictment.
At his Oct. 11 hearing before Mellaci, Siegel admitted that between January 1998 and September 2001, he fraudulently attempted to obtain more than $85,000 in disability insurance benefits from the Unum Life Insurance Company of North America.
Siegel, a former New Jersey-licensed podiatrist, had filed a disability claim with Unum alleging that he was injured and could no longer work as a podiatrist.
Siegel admitted that he provided falsified information to Unum regarding his employment and income in order to collect greater disability benefits. He also admitted that while collecting such benefits, he withheld information from the insurance company about his employment as a law clerk and attorney with law firms in New Jersey and New York.
State Investigator Natalie Brotherston and Civil Investigator Martin Arasin coordinated the investigation. Deputy Attorney General Peter W. Lee represented the Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor at the sentencing.
Judge wants more details on charges against podiatrist
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