According to township officials, retired Capt. Andy Fresco is not the only person to have collected a paycheck for another job while too sick to work for the township.
EDISON -- On Friday, a recently retired Edison police officer was indicted on charges that he illegally worked a mall security job while collecting sick pay without the town's permission.
But according to township officials, retired Capt. Andy Fresco is not the only person to have collected a paycheck for another job while too sick to work for the township.
Deputy Chief Mark Anderko, the current chief's staunchest ally in a department riven by conflict, briefly worked at Middlesex County College in the fall of 2013 while he was out sick for months. He had gone out on medical stress leave in May under worker's comp, just days after a patrolman in the department allegedly torched his home.
Anderko said his township-hired doctor, believing it would help in his recovery, signed off on Anderko's teaching job in a back-to-work plan. But township officials did not agree, and told him he couldn't work there. He had, however, already started.
Records obtained from Middlesex County College show he had earned about $800 for his work teaching two classes by the time he found out he didn't have permission. Within a week, he forfeited the class, the records show.
"I forfeited because I was informed by the municipality that I could not do it," Anderko told NJ Advance Media. "They rejected it, and I followed suit."
Indeed, Middlesex County College records show that Anderko received paychecks for his brief time teaching two courses, and when the checks kept coming, he grew concerned. He contacted the college to straighten it out.
"Thanks for being so very honest!" an assistant to the dean wrote to Anderko, according to emails obtained by NJ Advance Media.
The episode, brief as it was, has led some critics of the command staff to question whether that Edison's policies regarding working while out sick are widely understood -- or, echoing a frequent complaint about the rules in the police department, evenly applied. Fearing retribution, those critics declined to be named -- but Fresco's attorney amplified an undercurrent of criticism, not just about Anderko, but about the town's policies writ large.
It could play a major role in Fresco's defense amid accusations that he improperly collected $38,000 in sick pay while working at the mall. Fresco was indicted two counts of official misconduct, which carry a five-year minimum mandatory prison sentence, and one count each of theft and theft by deception.
Darren Gelber, Fresco's attorney, said he would be interested in knowing if there are other similar cases.
"I hope they come forward," Gelber said. "They could be useful in my defense of Fresco."
If Fresco had been given the opportunity to stop working his mall job, as Anderko was given with his teaching job, he would have done so, Gelber said.
For Gelber, the cases have one major difference: When Anderko worked while out sick, the town went to Anderko. When Fresco worked while out sick, the town went to the county prosecutor's office. Both men have said they believed they'd properly notified the town of their intentions, and, moreover, that they'd done nothing wrong.
The Middlesex County prosecutor's office did not respond to a request for comment.
According to William Stephens, an aide to former mayor Antonia Ricigliano, several other cops may have worked other jobs while too sick to work for the township. Stephens and Anderko were often at opposite ends of a years-long feud between the police chief and former mayor.
"If people venture to look, Anderko is not the only case of this," Stephens said. "I guarantee there were other people who did the same thing."
The command staff has long rejected claims of favoritism, including in this case.
Edison Police Chief Thomas Bryan said that per department policy, cops can't work other jobs without permission if they're out sick.
"You cannot be paid by the police department and have a note from a doctor keeping you out sick and then work another job," Bryan said.
Bryan also said the department's stress leave policies essentially keep officers confined to their homes, absent physician-approved activities like going to the gym.
Bryan declined to comment on Anderko's case. Anderko was a captain at the time, and returned to work near the end of 2013, when he was promoted to deputy chief.
Fresco was a 37-year veteran of the Edison Police Department, and was part of a faction that was often at odds with Bryan and Anderko. He shared part of a $200,000 settlement over claims of political retaliation in a case dubbed the "wagon wheel of death."
From July 15 to Sept. 30, while working at the mall, Fresco drew on a bank of sick time from 2004, his lawyer said. That year, the township capped retirement payouts from sick leave at $20,000, but over that limit, officers could use the time if they were actually sick. Fresco is receiving treatments for cancer.
The Middlesex County prosecutor's office said Fresco illegally collected about $38,000 in total in sick pay, nearly twice the payout limit. The amount he's accused of stealing was based on how much the town paid him, not how much he made at the mall. He retired from the township on Oct. 1.
Fresco's lawyer said he believed the town was apprised of his plan to work at the mall while out sick.
"When one side is in power, these policies can be used as a sword to attack," Gelber said. "And that's not really right, either."
Brian Amaral may be reached at bamaral@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @bamaral44. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
