Paul Loriquet (609) 292-4791

TRENTON - Attorney General David Samson announced that a Mercer County man was sentenced today in connection with a series of fires allegedly set in a scheme to enable Rossi Adjustment Services, a Trenton- based public insurance adjusting agency, to collect a percentage of approximately $500,000 from the resulting insurance claims.

According to Peter C. Harvey, First Assistant Attorney General and Director of the Division of Criminal Justice, Jerome Adderley, 37, of Ewing Twp., was sentenced to two years probation conditioned upon serving 364 days (time already served) in County jail.

Adderley was sentenced pursuant to his guilty plea to (3^rd degree) conspiracy. An indictment returned by the State Grand Jury on February 27, 2002, charged him with (3^rd degree) conspiracy, (3^rd degree) arson and (3^rd degree) theft by deception.

At his guilty plea hearing on August 27, 2002, before Mercer County Superior Court Judge Charles A. Delehey, Adderley admitted that he assisted Otis Boone with setting the March 11, 1999, fire at Graziano's Florist Shop located on South Clinton Avenue in Trenton. Zurich Insurance Company paid $65,892 in insurance claims resulting from that fire.

On February 27, 2002, Boone, 34, of Trenton was charged by a State Grand Jury for his part in the alleged scheme with (2^nd degree) theft by deception, (2^nd degree) conspiracy,

(2^nd degree) possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and six counts of (1^st degree) arson for hire. According to the State Grand Jury indictment, Boone intentionally set fires on December 19, 1998, at 508 West Hanover Street, Trenton; on January 22, 1999, at the residence of Lee Roberts, Jr. at 1732 East State Street, Hamilton Township; on February 2, 1999, at the property of TAC Rentals at 41-43 Prospect Street, Trenton; on March 11, 1999, at the Graziano Flower Shop at 540 South Clinton Avenue, Trenton; on March 24, 1999, at a residential rental property owned by Brian Davis at 350 St. Joe's Avenue, Trenton; on April 6, 1999, at the Country Barrel Inn, a restaurant located at 5834 South Broad Street, Hamilton, Twp.; and as a co-conspirator regarding a fire on March 10, 1999, at Jerry's Pizza at 701 South Broad Street, Trenton.

On October 21, 2002, Boone pleaded guilty to six counts of (2^nd degree) aggravated arson and one count (2^nd degree) conspiracy. He is scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Delehey on January 31, 2003.

As a result of these seven fires, approximately $500,000 in insurance claims money was paid out by four insurance companies, New Jersey Insurance Underwriting Association, Farmer's Mutual Fire Assurance Association of New Jersey, Zurich Insurance Group and Providence Washington Insurance Company.

Harvey said that, with the exception of Marc Graziano, who pleaded guilty on February 11, 2002, to (3^rd degree) charges relating to the March 1999, fire at his Trenton flower shop, none of the other property owners have been charged with any criminal conduct relating to their properties.

On July 17, 2002, Marc Rossi was also charged by way of a State Grand Jury indictment for his alleged role in this conspiracy. On December 3, 2002, Rossi was charged by way of a State Grand Jury superseding indictment for allegedly setting four additional fires in Mercer County. His case is pending in court.

The investigation leading to the indictments had previously resulted in the conviction of Frank "Sonny" Rose on third degree charges of arson and conspiracy to commit theft by deception stemming from a fire at his residence.

The indictment to which Adderley pleaded guilty was filed by the Division of Criminal Justice's Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor which investigates and prosecutes both civil and criminal insurance fraud related cases.

The investigation resulting in the indictments was led by the Division of Criminal Justice - Office of Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, with assistance from Det. Scott Connor and Sgt. Marvin Johnson of the Trenton Police Department, Agent Rick Weber of the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and the Mercer County Prosecutor's Office. Deputy Attorney General Lew Korngut, who represented the State before the State Grand Jury and at the sentencing hearing, State Investigator Robert Stemmer and Civil Investigator Joseph Salvatore are in charge of the investigation which led to the indictments. All are assigned to the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor.

"This sentence and the other indictments represent a significant step forward in the ongoing investigation into a series of fires purposely set in and around the Trenton area in order to file fraudulent insurance claims," said Insurance Fraud Prosecutor Greta Gooden Brown. "The conduct alleged in the indictments is particularly heinous because of the potential threat posed to the safety of neighbors, fire officials and others in the vicinity of the fires. Our investigation has yielded significant information and the filing of additional charges against other co-conspirators is very likely."

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