Husband, wife in NJCU SGO theft sentenced

Husband, wife in NJCU SGO theft sentenced to total of 7 1/2 years by judge who says wife had reason to fear him

By JOURNAL STAFF
NEWARK - A former office manager at New Jersey City University and her husband were sentenced to a total of seven and a half years in prison yesterday and ordered to pay back more than $500,000 in restitution for stealing money from the college's student government organization.

Shaunette Ruffin-Moody, 49, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William J. Martini to 18 months in prison for her part in the scheme. Her husband, Alexander Moody, 52, - characterized as the "mastermind of the plot" by prosecutors - was sentenced to six years.

Kimberly Jackson, 39, a third co-conspirator, received three years probation and was ordered to pay $34,315 in restitution at $100 a month for fraudulent checks she admitted cashing.

All three co-conspirators are Jersey City residents and had previously pleaded guilty.

With her voice trembling, Ruffin-Moody said yesterday she was remorseful and had made a "tragic mistake."

"I am certain when she is released she will make the judge very proud of her," her attorney, Alan Bowman of Newark Bowman, said after the court appearance. "She is a very decent woman who made a serious mistake."

Attorney Christopher Patella of Bayonne told the judge that his client, Alexander Moody, needed the money to feed a cocaine habit and gambling addiction.

Martini said Ruffin-Moody and Jackson had reason to fear Moody who served 12 years in prison after being sentenced in 1979 for a "spree of robberies" and was not released from parole until 2004 because of multiple parole violations.

Martini said the public needed protection from Moody who had failed to deal with his addictions and whose actions had ruined the lives of two "pretty good women" struggling "to make a go of it."

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court, Shaunette Ruffin-Moody used her position as the SGO office manager to steal funds from NJCU by cashing unauthorized checks drawn on the SGO bank account.

From Jan. 4, 2007 through July 21, 2010, Ruffin-Moody and her husband stole approximately 275 checks that were then fraudulently signed and made payable to, among others, the Moodys and co-conspirators Arsenio Willey, Curtis Shearer and Kimberly Jackson, officials said.

In order to conceal and perpetuate their crime, the Moodys falsified documents, transferred funds among SGO financial accounts, and obtained fraudulent audits of the SGO's finances.

Shearer pleaded guilty to the conspiracy charge on March 29, 2011, and is scheduled to be sentenced on July 12, 2011. The charges against Willey remain pending.