Inspector Faces Bribery Charges

A man from the Manasquan Park section of Wall Township is facing charges in Monmouth County Superior Court after he allegedly accepted a bribe from an undercover officer while working in an official capacity for the Freehold Soil Conservation District.

John Tonon, 51, of Lakewood Road, is charged in relation to an Oct. 26 incident in Hazlet in which authorities say he accepted $700 from an undercover officer of the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office, to influence his work as a soil conservationist and inspector. According to a release from the Prosecutor's Office, the bribe was intended to expedite the permitting process for a recently built home.

The second degree crime is a violation of state statue NJSA 2C:27-2 which prohibits the giving or accepting of bribes in official or political capacities. If convicted, Tonon would face a maximum custodial sentence of 10 years in prison, would automatically forfeit his current public employment and be permanently barred from future public employment within the State of New Jersey.

Tonon appeared in Monmouth County Superior Court in Freehold before Judge Thomas Scully where his bail was set at $50,000 with no 10 percent option. Tonon currently awaits trial in the Monmouth County Correctional Institution.

A court date has yet to be set.

The Freehold Soil Conservation District is one of 15 soil conservation districts in the state, run under a partnership with the New Jersey Department of Agriculture.

Conservation districts are charged with the implementation of the New Jersey Soil Erosion and Sediment Control Act, which regulates development in areas including stormwater management, soil erosion and sedimentation.

The Freehold Soil Conservation District works in both Monmouth and Middlesex counties.