A New Jersey couiple who used their home improvement companies to prey on more than 20 Hurricane Sandy victims have been sentenced for the $1.4 million scam.
Jeffrey Colmyer and Tiffany Cimino admitted stealing more than $1.4 million from Hurricane Sandy victims through two contracting firms.
Jeffrey Colmyer, 43, and his wife Tiffany Cimino, 35, of Little Egg Harbor, used money intended for Sandy relief to gamble and buy luxury items while the homes they were hired to fix remained in disrepair, authorities said.
The case was one of the largest prosecutions of Hurricane Sandy scams involving a contractor, authorities said.
Colmyer was sentenced to seven years in state prison during a hearing on Friday in Ocean County. Cimino received five years of probation.
"Colmyer and Cimino callously stole from Sandy victims whose homes were destroyed, compounding the hardships and distress their victims faced as they strived to rebuild after this historic storm," state Attorney General Gurbir Grewal said in a statement.
Colmyer used hundreds of thousands of dollars in stolen money to gamble at seven Atlantic City casinos. The couple also purchased a $17,000 diamond ring, authorities said.
The home repair and elevation jobs they were hired to complete were left abandoned or never started, authorities said.
The couple pleaded guilty in May to theft charges and money laundering through their companies, Rayne Construction Management Services and Colmyer & Sons.
Colmyer and Cimino must pay more than $1.4 million in restitution including $695,000 to the Hurricane Sandy victims and $655,000 to the state of New Jersey. The couple also owes a combined $112,000 in back taxes.
"We have prosecuted many cases of fraud and theft related to Superstorm Sandy, but this is perhaps the most egregious, given the amount stolen by this couple and the fact that they enriched themselves at the expense of victims who were hit hardest by this natural disaster," Division of Criminal Justice Director Veronica Allende, said in a statement.
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