Probation for ex-court employee who stole $135K from dead co-worker

The former Somerset County Superior Court employee told the judge that his co-worker wanted him to have the money after her death.

MORRISTOWN -- A former Somerset County Superior Court employee who pleaded guilty to stealing $135,517 from the retirement account of a deceased co-worker moments after learning of her death was sentenced Friday to two years probation in Morris County Superior Court, according to a report on dailyrecord.com.

Dennis Lordi, 60, of Old Bridge, received a suspended, 364-day jail sentence to be served if he violates his probation and must also undergo mental health counseling. He admitted to stealing the money from his friend, Donna Dilullo, after her death on July 8, 2013, but said she had given him verbal permission, according to the report.

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Lordi, who was fired from his $90,000 per year job as an administrative supervisor in the fee unit of the courts, accessed Dilullo's deferred compensation and retirement account held by Prudential, pretended to be her and transferred $135,517 into his own Prudential account, according to the report.

The case was transferred to Morris County for prosecution because of Lordi's then employment in Somerset County Superior Court, it was stated in the report.