The former superintendent of the Wall Township Public School District was sentenced to five years in a New Jersey state prison by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ronald Reisner on Friday morning.
FREEHOLD - James Habel's attempts to avoid a prison sentence after being convicted of official misconduct were not successful.
The former superintendent of the Wall Township public school district was sentenced to five years in prison by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Ronald Reisner on Friday morning.
Habel, 59, was convicted in March of one charge of official misconduct and four counts of falsifying or tampering with records.
Former Wall schools boss convicted of official misconduct, falsifying records
A jury found that Habel bilked the school district out of almost $1,000 a day when he cashed in more than 100 unused sick and vacation days that he should not have had.
In the months between his conviction and his sentencing, Habel replaced his defense attorney and made multiple motions for a new trial or a mistrial, including a last-minute motion for a mistrial by his new defense attorney, Edward Bertucio, before Friday morning's sentencing.
All of these motions were denied.
Instead, Reisner sentenced Habel to five years on the official misconduct charge, all of which Habel will have to serve before becoming eligible for parole. Reisner also sentenced Habel to one year in prison for each of the falsifying or tampering with records charges, but those terms will run concurrently with the official misconduct sentence.
Habel must also forfeit his pension benefits and his right to hold public office again in New Jersey, Reisner ordered.
"This defendant decided for whatever reason, for himself ... that he could engage in this conduct over a sustained period of time and that he did not have to answer to anyone," Reisner said. "There's a strong need to deter this defendant in particular, and all defendants who hold public office, not to engage in this type of conduct."
Habel was not ordered to pay restitution to the school district because, Reisner said, the jury did not convict him of the theft offenses with which he was also charged.
Throughout the sentencing and his motion for a mistrial, Habel sat quietly in the jury box with his back to the audience. When Reisner gave him the opportunity to speak on his own behalf prior to the sentence being issued, he declined.
Bertucio said he has already begun the process of filing Habel's appeal.
Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Falco said Habel was making about $300,000 per year in salary and benefits - including more than $200,000 in base salary - by the end of his tenure in Wall Township, and had almost $1 million saved for his retirement.
"I can stand here and summarize the essence of this case in one word and that is 'greed'," Falco said. "What arose from this trial was a portrait of a man who had absolutely everything. ... And instead of setting an example for hundreds of employees and thousands of students, he used his subordinates to further his own selfish goal, and his greed overtook everything else."
Rob Spahr may be reached at rspahr@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @TheRobSpahr. Find NJ.com on Facebook.