Blackwood Man One of Two Sentenced to Jail in Turnpike Toll Scheme

Two former New Jersey Turnpike toll collectors, including a Blackwood man, were sentenced Thursday to nearly a year in jail for their roles in a toll scheme that netted them thousands of dollars.

Superior Court Judge Irvin J. Snyder sentenced William L. Fagan III, 62, and Glenn W. Huryan, 55, of Magnolia, to 364 days in Camden County Jail for pocketing thousands of dollars they collected from Turnpike motorists, New Jersey Attorney General Paula T. Dow and Divison of Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor announced.

Snyder also sentenced Fagan and Huryan to two and four years of probation, respectively, and ordered Fagan to pay $4,835 and Huryan $6,000 in restitution. Both men are barred from public employment in New Jersey under their sentences.

Fagan and Huryan pleaded guilty to third-degree theft by unlawful taking on July 25, according to the Attoney General's Office.

Fagan worked at Turnpike Exit 3, Huryan at Exit 5.

The scheme involved swapping toll tickets from nearby exits for ones provided by motorists traveling from more-distant exits. The two men, as well as a third toll collector who is awaiting sentencing following his Aug. 24 guilty plea, pocketed the difference between what the motorists paid and what the fraudulent ticket indicated they should have paid.

For example, if a driver presented a ticket from Exit 18W and paid the $6.95 toll at Exit 5, Huryan would substitute a ticket he had obtained from Exit 3 and then put the proper toll for the Exit 3 ticket—$1—into the cash drawer. He would then keep the difference of $5.95 for himself.

Huryan admitted he was the one who obtained the tickets from nearby toll plazas for all three men involved in the scheme.

The Turnpike Authority became suspicious of the three men's activities following an internal audit that showed they had handed in a large number of "excess time" tickets, or tickets collected hours beyond the normal time it would take to travel from the toll plaza where it was obtained.

New Jersey State Police Det. Mark Beardsley headed the investigation once the suspicious activity was reported by the Turnpike Authority.