Former Lakewood Inspector From Stafford Sentenced To Prison For Conspiracy To Commit Bribery

A former Lakewood electrical code inspector for Lakewood will spend the next three years in state prison for accepting bribes from contractors to speed up inspections or not doing inspections at all, Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino said.

Mitchell B. Perkins, 68, of Stafford Township was sentenced by Ocean County Superior Court Judge Wendel E. Daniels. Perkins pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to commit bribery. He is permanently forbidden from holding a public job in New Jersey.

Perkins accepted bribes from contractors in exchange for scheduling and conducting inspections more quickly. He approved one job without actually inspecting the work, Porrino said.

Perkins formerly was employed as an electrical sub-code official/electrical inspector for Lakewood Township. He was arrested on Sept. 25, 2015, and subsequently retired from that position.

“When inspectors like Perkins take bribes from contractors, it erodes trust in government and can threaten public safety,” said Attorney General Porrino. “This prison sentence sends a clear message that government officials who betray the public by putting their authority up for sale will face stern punishment.”

The investigation began after the New Jersey State Police received information that Perkins had been accepting bribes from contractors. Between May and September 2015, Perkins accepted four separate payments of $300 from an electrical contractor as consideration for preferential treatment.

What Perkins didn't know was that the contractor was working as a cooperating witness for the State Police. He asked that Perkins speed up the process, according to the release.

"After the first payment, Perkins, who previously had inordinately delayed inspections of the contractor’s works sites, began to conduct timely inspections of his work sites," it states. "On one occasion, Perkins approved electrical work performed by the contractor without first inspecting the work."

The investigation also revealed that Perkins accepted other payments from contractors on multiple occasions dating back to 1997 to influence the performance of his work as an electrical sub-code official and inspector for Lakewood Township.

“There are few assets more valuable than a person’s home, and homeowners have a right to expect that government inspectors will focus exclusively on ensuring that homes are safe, not on satisfying contractors who pay bribes,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “This sentence sends a message that the state will not tolerate any illegal behavior that could endanger its citizens.”

Deputy Attorney General Pearl Minato prosecuted Perkins and handled the sentencing for the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau. The charge was contained in a June 2016 indictment that was the result of an investigation by the New Jersey State Police Official Corruption Bureau South Squad and the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau.

“The public has a right to expect that inspectors like Perkins will focus single-mindedly on public safety, not lining their own pockets,” said Director Elie Honig of the Division of Criminal Justice. “We’ll aggressively prosecute any officials who corruptly use their public positions for personal gain.”

The Division of Criminal Justice has established a toll-free Corruption Tipline 1-866-TIPS-4CJ for the public to confidentially report corruption, financial crime and other illegal activities. The public also can log on to the Division’s web page at www.njdcj.org to report suspected wrongdoing confidentially.

Image: Attorney General's Office of New Jersey