Former North Brunswick Fire Marshal Craig Snediker was sentenced to six months in prison, six months home confinement and three years supervised release after pleading guilty to embezzlement earlier this year.
Snediker, 40, of Monroe Township, will also pay a fine of $3,000 and has already paid restitution in the amount of $87,812.41, according to information provided by Matthew Reilly of the U.S. Department of Justice regarding Snediker’s sentencing on Dec. 16.
The former treasurer of North Brunswick Volunteer Fire Co. 3, Snediker confessed to one count of wire fraud in federal court on Sept. 2, charging that he embezzled at least $89,000 from the fire company since last year, according to a statement prepared by U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.
According to Fishman, Snediker had the authority to deposit and withdraw money from the fire company’s bank account, which held public funds and private donations, since he was the treasurer.
Snediker admitted that from March 25, 2014, through May 19, 2015, he used ATMs at banks in Middlesex County to access the funds for his personal expenses. Overall, Snediker admitted that he withdrew between $89,000 and $92,986 without the fire company’s authorization.
Snediker later concealed his actions by misrepresenting the account balance to the Township of North Brunswick, Fishman said.
Although Snediker also served as treasurer of the entire North Brunswick Fire Department, the charges themselves and the damages they caused pertain only to the bank account for Fire Company 3, not the whole fire department’s fund, according to William Skaggs, deputy public affairs officer for the United States Attorney’s Office District of New Jersey.
Snediker had been the township’s fire marshal since August 2000, his only official position with the town, according to North Brunswick Business Administrator Robert Lombard. Donald Salzmann has been the acting fire marshal, pending the still-in-process search for a permanent replacement, Lombard said.
Snediker’s attorney, Robert C. Scrivo, a partner in McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter of Morristown, could not be reached by press time.