(The following story by Rudy Larini appeared on The Star-Ledger website on December 10.)
NEWARK, N.J. — A suspended NJ Transit official faces charges of unlawfully taking money to resolve a claim of a transit worker injured on the job.
Reginald J. Grant, 60, of East Orange, is charged with theft by unlawful taking and official misconduct, a second degree offense punishable by up to 10 years in prison.
Grant appeared today before Superior Court Judge Ned M. Rosenberg in Newark, and the case was remanded to a grand jury for a possible indictment.
“There was no plea offer and we wouldn’t discuss it anyway,” Grant’s attorney, Michael D’Alessio, said of today’s court appearance.
“We’re not interested in any guilty plea. He did not take any money and he did not do anything wrong,” D’Alessio said.
Grant, who has worked for NJ Transit for 16 years, was suspended from his job as a claims specialist after the charges were lodged against him in September following an internal investigation by NJ Transit police, according to agency spokeswoman Penny Bassett Hackett.
“NJ Transit takes these matters very seriously and took swift action as soon as this came to our attention,” she said, declining to provide any details about the specific charge against Grant or the injury case it involved.
D’Alessio said Grant, a former East Orange police officer and 16-year veteran of the transit agency, is accused of accepting $500 to settle an injury claim, but the attorney did not know any details.
“It’s a peanuts case,” D’Alessio said. “This guy is a straight shooter. I don’t know anything. I don’t know what’s going on and he doesn’t either. They just came and picked him up.”
The lawyer said he did not want his client to comment on the case.