January 24, 2001
Trenton,
NJ — A health insurance clerk for the state of New Jersey was indicted
yesterday on charges of simulating a motor vehicle identification card and
official misconduct, Mercer County Prosecutor Daniel G. Giaquinto announced.
Marie
Cook (DOB 3/29/70), of the 200 block of North Willow Street, Trenton, was
indicted on the respective fourth-degree and third-degree offenses, Giaquinto
said. If convicted, Cook could face a maximum sentence of six and a half years
in prison and the forfeiture of public employment for life.
Cook
was arrested on December 20, 2000 in the lobby of the state Labor and Industry
Building by detectives with the Trenton Police Department following an
investigation that began after an individual tried to recover a vehicle from the
Trenton impound lot with a forged insurance card.
When
the individual told police that he bought the phony card from Cook, who was
manufacturing the cards at work, Trenton Detective Alan Tormondson sent the
individual back to Cook to purchase additional insurance cards with marked
bills.
Assistant Prosecutor Doris Galuchie presented the case to the
grand jury.
Despite having been indicted, every defendant is presumed innocent until found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.