EXCLUSIVE: Lodi Fire Marshal Paul Wanco and his niece this week applied for a special program that can remove elderly abuse charges against them in connection with an incident in which prosecutors said they neglected his mother after she fell down at home, CLIFFVIEW PILOT has learned.
The three live together in Lodi, where, prosecutors said, the 85-year-old woman fell and needed assistance getting up.
However, she was left there for at least 12 hours — and possibly up to 15 — and later had to be taken to a hospital, Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Jessica Gomperts said.
Authorities offered probation in exchange for a plea bargain to the 57-year-old Wanco, a 20-year firefighting veteran, and his niece, Jennifer Wanco, 38, she said.
However, both qualify for Pre-Trial Intervention, for which Gomperts said they are applying.
Under PTI, as it’s known, defendants without prior criminal records can have charges removed if they follow certain conditions for a specified time period, ordinarily a year. If they do, their records are “expunged” — wiped clean.
Depending on the offense, PTI can require community service, restitution and/or fines, psychological testing, urine monitoring and alcohol evaluations.
If the two are accepted into the program, their case won’t go to a grand jury in Hackensack.
However, if they don’t successfully complete PTI, the case will be returned to court, under terms of the program.
STORY: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter