Parking Director Who Conspired with Toms River Man Pleads Guilty in Hoboken Case

Former Hoboken Parking Utility Director John Corea pleaded guilty to official misconduct for his role in the theft of $600,000 from parking meters, according to Attorney General Paula Dow.

Corea conspired with a Toms River contractor whose company was hired by the City of Hoboken to collect coins from city parking meters, according to Dow's statement.

"This defendant corruptly exploited his public office, at a high cost to the City of Hoboken," Dow said in a statement. "We are seeking a lengthy prison sentence for this flagrant betrayal of trust."

Corea, 47, pleaded guilty to superior judge to Francis Hodgson Jr. in Ocean County. Corea will be sentenced in February.

Dow announced that she will be recommending that Corea be sentenced to eight years in state prison, including three years of parole ineligibilty. She also announced that he must pay $300,000 in restitution to the City of Hoboken and will never be allowed to have public employment in the state of New Jersey.

According to the Attorney General, Corea admitted that, as director of the Hoboken Parking Utility, he steered three separate no-bid contracts to United Textile Fabricators to collect, count and manage the coins from the city’s parking meters. He admitted that he made false statements to the city council about the qualifications and experience of the company, which is a coin-operated arcade game manufacturer. 

He further admitted that he came to believe that United Textile and its owner, Brian Petaccio, 51, of Toms River, had stolen a substantial amount of the city’s parking revenues, but didn't notify the city.

Petaccio pleaded guilty on Sept. 30, 2009 to stealing $1.1 million from Hoboken parking meters between June 2005 and April 2008.

After an audit in 2007 uncovered parking revenue shortfalls, Petaccio and his company returned approximately $575,000 to the city, according to the attorney general.  Petaccio admitted during his guilty plea that he diverted an additional $600,000 that was not reported to the city. Petaccio will also be sentenced in February.