Former police sergeant gets 8 years for offering bribes

[LeighAnn]

AP via Philly Burbs

A state Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced a former Hamilton Township police sergeant to eight years in state prison for offering bribes to several volunteer fire chiefs as part of an arson for profit scheme.

A Mercer County jury in March found Jeffrey Nemes, 41, guilty of two counts of bribery in official and political matters, as well as one count of conspiracy.

The jury found Nemes had approached the chiefs of two Hamilton Township volunteer fire companies in the late 1990s, offering hundreds of dollars in cash and other rewards if they allowed fires to cause more damage at certain locations.

The idea, according to authorities, was to increase potential profits for Nemes' construction company, as a well as an insurance adjustment firm owned by co-conspirator Marc Rossi.

Rossi in 2003 pleaded guilty to bribery and running an arson-for-profit insurance fraud scheme. He was later sentenced to eight years in state prison, and ordered to pay nearly $600,000 in restitution and fines.

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/104-06222007-1367560.html