The Daily Journal from Vineland, New Jersey • Page A5

WWW.THEDAILYJ0URNAL.COM OBITUARIESSTATE Thursday, March 14, 2013 A5 Corrupt NJ ex-mayor heads off to prison NJ prison locked down after slashing The Associated Press WOODBRIDGE Authorities temporarily locked down East Jersey State Prison following a fight in the mess hall. The fight broke out Tuesday during breakfast at the state's second-oldest prison. Department of Corrections spokeswoman Deirdre Fedkenheuer said two inmates got into a fight and one was slashed. The inmate was taken out of the prison for treatment of an injury that was not considered life-threatening, she said. The other inmate was treated in the prison.

The lockdown was lifted about seven hours later. By Rema Rahman Associated Press Jail Former Hamilton Township Mayor John Bencivengo arrives at U.S. District Court in Trenton on Wednesday. He was sentenced to 38 months behind bars, ap photomel evans TRENTON The former mayor of New Jersey's largest suburb was sentenced Wednesday to more than three years in prison for corruption after telling a judge he lives with "self-torture" every day over the crimes. Former Hamilton Township Mayor John Bencivengo also was ordered to participate in a mental health program in prison.

A forensic psychologist testified at the sentencing that Bencivengo has suffered from major depression since 2008. Bencivengo also must pay back at least $7,400 in money he accepted as part of a bribery sting. In addition to his 38-month federal prison sentence, he will also face three years of probation when he is released and must pay thousands of dollars in fines. Bencivengo, 58, took responsibility for his actions and cried in court as he spoke about the impact the case had on his 90-year-old-mother. "I have great remorse, anxiety and emotional self-torture on a daily basis over these uncharacteristic circumstances," Bencivengo said.

"I'm profoundly sorry that this matter is even before this court." Bencivengo had faced up to five to six years in prison. U.S. District here, with Republican Freeholder Samuel L. Fiocchi voting no and the remaining Democrats voting yes. Republican Freeholder Carl W.

Kirstein was away on vacation for the week and was subsequently absent from the meeting. In a heated public comment section of the meeting, which was quickly scheduled on Monday, many local residents, union members and county jail employees raised concerns with both the hastily put together meeting and the plan itself. Dean Hawk directed his remarks at director Whelan, "On Jan. 22, you said that everybody really wants change, that we're going to make baby steps. If you have a broad vision, you got to tell us your vision.

This is not a secret society." Hawk added, "Whether this is good or bad for the Cumberland County people remains to be seen, but how it's been done has been bad." "This sounds like nothing but dirty politics to me," said Jeff Zavis, a Vineland resident who works at Gloucester County jail. "We might as well put up a sign that reads, 'Give us your murderers, give us your child molesters, give us your mentally ill." "Let (Gloucester) be responsible for their inmates," said Steve Lewis, a Vineland resident and retired corrections officer. "We do not need them." "It's going to create more crime, more drugs, more mental problems," argued Upper Deefield Township Resident Eileen Clark, whose sister worked in a state prison. "Is this what we want for our families here?" Balicki, who previously served as a director in the Gloucester County Department of Corrections, addressed concerns over the extra crime additional inmates might bring the county by speaking of Gloucester's tougher inmate population compared to Cumberland's. "There were months in Gloucester where there were no murders," he said.

"We don't have a month in Cumberland where there are no murders." Fiocchi expressed disappointment. "To me, I think its reprehensible that this was not vetted with the freeholder board," he said. "Why we're rushing into this I don't know. Quite frankly, I think this meeting is out of order." Freeholder Joe Derel-la, who is a liaison to public safety, spoke in favor of the contract. "It's a challenging situation," he said.

"But we're going to take on the responsibility, we're going to fix our budget." Whelan said the plan was about generating extra revenue for the county. "When you have empty space in a building and you need revenue and you have the opportunity to generate revenue, I don't think you can pass up the level of budget support that is offered by this shared services agreement." Deputy director Doug Long agreed. "If we can eliminate the shortfall in the budget, then I'm for it," he said. "We need to look for alternative revenue sources rather than digging into peoples' pockets every year." Continued from Page A1 That figure is based on the county being paid from Gloucester $100 per inmate per day. A minimum number of inmates would be set at 100, with a maximum at 350 per year.

Gloucester would also pay out-of-jail medical expenses for its inmates as well as all transportation costs for the roughly 40-mile trip between the two jails. Hiring of additional prison guards would be at the discretion of Cumberland County, County Counsel Theodore E. Baker said. When it comes to Gloucester's side of the deal, the county would save $2 million this year, roughly $8.6 million next year and more than $10 million in annual savings after that. Over 25 years, Gloucester officials project saving $250 million.

Currently, it costs Gloucester County taxpayers $28 million annually to guard, house, clothe and feed those incarcerated at the Woodbury facility. In the contract, only males will be transferred to the Bridgeton jail. Gloucester previously entered into a shared services agreement with Camden, Cumberland and Salem counties to house female inmates in 2010. A contract to regionalize the juvenile program was established with Camden County the year prior. The agreement was passed along party lines use his influence to help the broker keep a health insurance contract with the township's school district.

Bencivengo's lawyer argued the money was a loan. But U.S. Attorney Harvey Bartle said Bencivengo knew exactly what he was doing when he accepted the first $5,000 in the form of a check made out to a former employee's wife. Bartle said Bencivengo also acted with official misconduct for accepting cash payments during a weekend trip to Atlantic City. "Government does not take place in Atlantic City hotel rooms," Bartle said.

Judge Anne Thompson said she considered 60 letters written on the former official's behalf in lowering the sentence, but had to consider he knowingly accepted money he shouldn't have. "He has thrown away so much for $12,400," Thompson said. Bencivengo was convicted in November on extortion, money laundering and bribery-related counts. He resigned as mayor of the Mercer County community the day after he was convicted. Federal prosecutors said Bencivengo took the bribes from a health insurance broker in 2011.

In exchange, he promised to I'd say over several months," Baker said. Romaine Street, a science teacher at Buckshu-tem Road School in Bridgeton, was there to support 17 of his students appearing at the fair. "It's nice to see the things you actually implement in class, and then they take it further and use it as a science fair project," Street said. Dean of STEM and Health at CCC Mary Ann Westerfield said when she was in high school she actually entered the first of the science fairs at the college. "Twenty-five years ago I was one of you, sitting in one of those chairs," said Westerfield.

"I'm very proud of all of you." College President Dr. Thomas Isekenegbe, who was a science major and got his undergraduate degree in biology, told the students how important they were to the future not just in Cumberland County, but nationwide. "When I was at your level, I didn't have that critical thinking process, and that really warms my heart. Because we as a country, we need scientists. In the knowledge age, we need people (who) can critically think to move our country for ward," Isekenegbe said.

The 324 students, up from 198 last year, are divided into two divisions based on grade grades 6 through 8 and 9 through 12 and 15 categories including Chemistry, Microbiology and Physics. "Last year we had 198 students, so it was a big growth year for us," said Veronica Chainey, Assistant Director of Career Pathways at CCC. "Preliminary judging happened last night because the awards are supposed to stand on the integrity of the project and the research materials. Then we interview this morning just to make sure the students know what they're doing, that they did do the project themselves, and just to engage them and get them excited about their projects," Chainey said. Any school in Cumberland County is eligible to participate, and CCC sends announcements in advance and sends any necessary forms to participating schools.

Schools from neighboring counties can contact the college to participate as well. Medal winners at the competition are eligible to move on to the Delaware Valley Science Fair in Philadelphia. Mandy Willis and Melissa Zellers; two brothers, David Travaline of Hopewell Township and Randy Travaline of Greenwich; and a sister, Stephanie Wood of Hopewell Township. Funeral services will be held at the Padgett Funeral Home, 1107 State Highway 77, Upper Deer-field Township, on Saturday at 11 a.m. Friends will be received at the funeral home from 10 to 11 a.m.

prior to the services. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made in Michael's memory to the American Diabetes Association, Philadelphia PA Office, 150 Monument Road, Suite 100, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. Written condolences may be sent to the family through the funeral home website at Science Continued from Page A3 learned with that same scent." Sotnychuk explains, "The first and second period classes (were) control, and the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth were the ones who were given scent. They actually had overall higher scores than the first and second periods, but we couldn't tell if it was from the scent or another variable." "We're both bio science nerds," said Holmes. For winning, the duo received a pair of $100 gift cards from the University of the Sciences and two free courses at Cumberland County College, which they said they plan on taking during the summer.

Briana Baker of Vine-land High School won first place in Biochemistry and second place overall for her project "Oil and Vinegar do Mix," which showed that the two could be mixed using an emulsifier. Baker had been in one previous science fair when she was at Wallace Intermediate School, where she took fifth place. "I did mine over time, Trump Plaza hands out layoff notices The Associated Press ATLANTIC CITY Notice has gone out that more than 1,400 employees could face layoffs at Atlantic City's Trump Plaza Hotel and Casino. Officials said the notice is a formality in advance of the sale of Trump Plaza to the Me-ruelo Group for $20 million. State law requires 60 days' notice of closings and layoffs.

Meruelo Group president Xavier Gutierrez said the company intends to keep most Trump Plaza employees. He declined to go into detail. The sale is expected to close in May. MICHAEL F. TRAVALINE, 53 Worked for Bridgeton Housing Authority whe re YOUR STYLE come to life Bg Cumberland Mall 3849 S.

Delsea Drive Vineland, NJ 08360 856.825.9507 cumberlandmallnj.com A Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust Property Michael F. Travaline, 53, of Hopewell Township died unexpectedly Tuesday morning, March 12, 2013, at his home following two years of declining health. Born in Vineland on Dec. 14, 1959, he was the son of Michael Travaline and Rhoda Smith Travaline of Hopewell Township. He had been a resident of Hopewell Township most of his life.

Michael had been previously employed by the Bridgeton Housing Authority and enjoyed working with computers. He was a veteran and served his country in the Army. Besides his parents, he is survived by a daughter, Tiffany Terron of Vineland; a granddaughter, Gysenia Terron of Vineland; a grandson, Giovani Terron of Vineland; two stepchildren, I Download the PREIT Mall App DJ-881 065529.