Launderer in Benci case has sentencing delayed
The sentencing hearing for the convicted money launderer in the federal case against Hamilton Mayor John Bencivengo has been delayed to December, according to court documents.
Former Hamilton School Board member and township official Rob Warney, who was scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 9, pleaded guilty in June to one charge of money laundering. Warney’s sentencing hearing will now occur after the scheduled beginning of Bencivengo’s trial, currently set for Nov. 5.
William Hughes, Warney’s attorney, said he had not requested the change, and he was not aware of any such request from prosecutors, either.
Warney allegedly acted as a conduit for a bribe to Bencivengo from a cooperating witness, whom sources have identified as Marliese Ljuba, former agent of Vineland-based Allen Associates, according to court documents.
Bencivengo allegedly received $12,400 in bribes from Ljuba in order to influence a member of the school board on behalf of her employer, the district’s former health insurance broker.
He has maintained his innocence, stating in a financial disclosure filed after his arrest that the money was a loan from a friend and not a bribe.
Released on a $100,000 unsecured bond, Warney could face as much as 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine in his sentence.
He served as the director of Hamilton Township’s Department of Community Planning and Compliance from 2008 until his resignation in June.