Monmouth County Grand Jury Indicts Attorney For Stealing More Than $400,000 From Relatives

A Monmouth County grand jury returned a four-count indictment Monday against a temporarily suspended Jersey City attorney charged with stealing more than $469,000 from the estates of two family members, announced Acting Monmouth County Prosecutor Christopher J. Gramiccioni.

John F. Hamill, 62, of Jersey City, was named in the four-count indictment charging him with two counts of second degree Misapplication of Entrusted Property and two counts of second degree Theft by Failure to Make a Required Disposition.

Hamill was arrested in October after an investigation revealed he stole approximately $469,544 from the Estates of an aunt and a cousin where he was named executor.

Hamill deposited into his personal checking account approximately $263,097 from the estate of an aunt, from North Bergen, and spent the money for payment of debts and for personal expenses. The investigation also revealed that the amount Hamill is alleged to have stolen equals the amount of federal taxes that remain due on the estate.

Hamill also stole approximately $206,447 from the estate of his cousin from Sea Girt, making numerous cash withdrawals that he then utilized for payment of debts and to pay for personal lifestyle activities.

Hamill is currently being held in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution in Freehold Township on $200,000 bail, with no option to post 10 percent, as set by Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Francis J. Vernoia.

If convicted, he faces a sentence of five to ten years in a New Jersey state prison on each of the charges.

Despite these charges, every defendant is presumed innocent, unless and until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt, following a trial at which the defendant has all of the trial rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution and State law.

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