Litigation pumps nearly $196 million into state's coffers in 2010
New Jersey Attorney General Paula Dow, front, applauds at Gov. Chris Christie's budget address last month.TRENTON — The state Attorney General’s Office released its annual report today, highlighting some of its more high-profile investigations and legal actions.
Civil judgments jumped nearly 31 percent, from $149.9 million to $195.9 million, according to the report.
The Division of Law, which functions as the state’s law firm, pulled in more settlement money through securities fraud and environmental litigation. But settlements in the areas of pension fraud, civil insurance fraud and consumer fraud plummeted.
View full sizeCivil judgments for the Attorney General's Office jumped nearly 31 percent in 2010, from $149.9 million to $195.9 million.The Division of Criminal Justice pursued 27 percent fewer cases last year. In 2010, 1,015 defendants were charged in 675 cases, down from 1,181 defendants in 929 cases in 2009.
“Department-wide, we engaged in a thorough self-examination designed to eliminate waste and reduce costs without compromising effectiveness,” Attorney General Paula Dow wrote in the report. “At the same time, we successfully prosecuted public corruption, violent street gang activity and other crime, protected consumers, combated bullying in schools, issued policy reforms that strengthened public safety, helped reduce traffic fatalities and brought hundreds of millions of dollars into state coffers through civil litigation.”
Cases against three state assemblymen concluded last year. Joseph Vas, who also served as Perth Amboy mayor, faces eight years in prison on corruption charges, including illegally funneling money into his failed congressional campaign. Neil Cohen was sentenced to five years in prison on child pornography charges, and Anthony Chiappone lost his seat after admitting to filing false campaign finance reports.
Editor's note: An earlier version of this story misstated the number of criminal justice cases.