Two brothers indicted for selling stolen computers

TRENTON » Two brothers have been indicted for working together to sell more than two dozen stolen computers ripped off from the New Jersey Schools Development Authority while one was employed by a company that contracted with the state agency.

Corey Jester, 49, of Freehold, was indicted on charges of computer theft, conspiracy, theft, fencing and misapplication of entrusted property of government work crimes he allegedly committed while he performed IT work for a contractor hired by the state agency, the state Attorney General’s Office said in a news release.

Jester’s brother, Darryl, 55, of Lawrence, was also indicted on charges of conspiracy, receiving stolen property and fencing.

Corey Jester in 2017 worked at the IT helpdesk for the New Jersey Schools Development which gave him access to a storage closet full of computers, some mini PCs and laptops.

Jester allegedly cleared data from 28 computers, installed new software and sold them online for between $100 to $200 per computer.

The computers had an estimated combined retail value of between $25,000 and $30,000.

Darryl Jester is accused of helping his brother hawk some of the stolen computers, knowing they were hot, authorities said.

Investigators started probing the matter when they were contacted after the SDA discovered in December that the computers were missing in December 2017.

The brothers were arrested in January, and a grand jury handed up an indictment last week.

“This case reflects our resolve to work with other governmental agencies to guard state property and taxpayer dollars vigilantly,” Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said.

The alleged computer thieves face up to 10 years in state prison and stiff fines up to $150,000 on each of the second-degree charges.