The Star-Ledger
LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. — Two fire commissioners from Little Egg Harbor Township face prison time for stealing vehicles owned by the fire department by signing the titles over to each other.
Edward A. Kluver, 48, a commissioner for Little Egg Harbor Township Fire District No. 2 and former chief of the Mystic Island Volunteer Fire Company, pleaded guilty yesterday to official misconduct in Superior Court in Ocean County.
On Oct. 1, another Fire District No. 2 commissioner and former member of the Mystic Island Volunteer Fire Company, Leroy Kaufman, 66, pleaded guilty to third-degree theft in the same case.
An investigation determined that in early 2002, Kluver and Kaufman used their official positions as commissioners to sign over to each other two vehicles owned by the fire district.
Kluver admitted he took title to a 1996 Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck; Kaufman admitted taking title to a 1993 Chevrolet Blazer.
Each man re-registered the vehicle in his own name, claiming he paid $250 for it, when in fact no payment was made for either vehicle, authorities said. The truck Kluver stole was worth more than $10,000.
Both men will be sentenced Nov. 30 in Toms River.
Messages left on Kluver's home phone and at the fire district offices were not immediately returned yesterday. A phone number for Kaufman could not be located.
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