FREEHOLD, N.J. (1010 WINS/ WCBS 880 NEWS) – A New Jersey police sergeant admitted to stealing over $115,000 from several charities including his local Police Benevolent Association chapter, prosecutors said on Thursday.
James R. Cadigan, 41, a Wall Township police sergeant, pleaded guilty to second- and third-degree theft by unlawful taking for stealing from his local Police Benevolent Association (PBA) chapter, a youth football nonprofit, and charitable campaigns for breast cancer research and a neurological injury survivor, according to the indictment.
"James Cadigan's actions do not reflect the integrity, commitment, and professionalism of the women and men of the Wall Township Police Department," Wall Township Police Chief Sean O'Halloran said.
An investigation began when the MCPO Professional Responsibility & Bias Crime Bureau received a referral last year from Wall Township PBA Local No. 234, which reported missing funds from its annual "Pignic" barbecue fundraiser, an event Cadigan had managed in 2022 and previous years.
Some of the proceeds from these events were missing.
Further investigation found that Cadigan had been making cash withdrawals and writing checks to himself from several PBA bank accounts since at least 2018.
Additionally, while serving as president of the Wall American Youth Football (AYF) organization from February 2020 to November 2022, Cadigan allegedly misused a debit card intended for purchases to benefit the organization to buy things like pool supplies, a hammock, grill tools, and holiday decorations, totaling nearly $20,000.
The investigation also found that Cadigan stole proceedings in fall 2020, when he organized a powderpuff football game, raising about $3,000 for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation but never donated the money.
In December 2021, he initiated a campaign for a friend with a brain aneurysm and misappropriated $3,000, later reimbursing it with stolen PBA funds.
Cadigan's sentencing is scheduled for March 14, 2024. The state plans to suggest 8 years in prison, which could be reduced to 5 years if he pays full restitution of about $91,500 to the PBA and $24,200 to the AYF, totaling over $115,500.
"We strongly feel that this is an appropriate resolution of a genuinely troubling case in which an officer willfully and repeatedly violated the trust of both the public and his own colleagues for the sole purpose of obtaining personal benefit," Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said. "There is no place within the ranks of law enforcement for such conduct."
Cadigan was also barred from ever holding public office in New Jersey.
