The man who spent years building a 75-foot-tall pile of dirt and debris in rural North Jersey is set to spend time in county jail for dozens of municipal violations related to the dumping.

Vernon resident Joseph Wallace was sentenced to 90 days in Sussex County jail on Wednesday and fined $58,500 after being taken to court by Vernon officials for 82 zoning violation summonses issued by the township since April 2018, which ranged from placing soils without a permit to operating a business in a residential zone. Wallace also face six motor vehicle summonses issued by Vernon police and two summonses issued by the Sussex County Soil Conservation District.

Wallace was found guilty for 52 of those summonses, not guilty for seven of them, and the rest were merged.

Judge James Bride of the Long Hill municipal court heard the case and made his decision on Wednesday. The decision was sent to all involved parties on Friday morning.

The 90-day jail sentence will be shortened to 30 days if Wallace suspends all of his dumping activities. Wallace can appeal Bride’s decision, but will have to give up his passports during the appeals process because the judge deemed him to be a flight risk.

“The fines assessed against Mr. Wallace will probably not be paid in full or in part," Bride wrote in his decision. "Mr. Wallace believes he is above the law and will resume his dumping activities at (his property) or somewhere else.”

Martin Morrison, Wallace’s attorney, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Vernon Mayor Harry Shortway praised the ruling, and said that Wallace "needs to be made an example for the whole state.”

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-5th Dist., who has been vocal in his attempts to call attention to the situation, hailed the ruling as a victory for the community.

“It’s taken far too long, but thanks to the sheer determination of the Vernon community, Joseph Wallace is finally being brought to justice for exposing us to his reckless dirt dumping and cancerous contaminants," Gottheimer said. "Now, it’s time to clean up the waste mountain and take care of our children and families.”

Since at least 2011, Wallace had dump trucks bringing material from mostly unknown sources to his property on Silver Spruce Drive, a private road in a quiet residential neighborhood. NJ Advance Media detailed the activity in an in-depth report published in February.

Testing done by the state has since found that samples from the pile contained polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs,) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and the pesticide chemical chlordane all at levels above the state’s standard for residential soil.

PAHs are classified as probable human carcinogens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. PCBs are also linked cancer, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, as well as pregnancy complications and other health effects. Exposure to chlordane, according to the CDC, can have a variety of effects on the human nervous system.

Bride made clear that he wanted to make an example out of Wallace in his explanation for the sentence. The judge blasted Wallace for having “a single-minded purpose to build a landfill,” but also explained that because New Jersey is a densely-populated state with limited space for legal landfills, tipping fees for removing waste are expensive. Because of that, Bride wrote, developers, builders and contractors are “anxious” to get rid of any solid waste in any manner as long as it can be done “without leaving fingerprints.”

“Mr. Wallace believes he answers to no one and has a total unconcern for the welfare of his fellow citizens,” Bride wrote. “The only way to convince Mr. Wallace, and others, that this activity will not be tolerated is to issue a most disagreeable, but necessary penalty.”

The case ended up in Long Hill after being transferred out of Vernon and other municipalities because of conflicts of interest. The trial began before Bride in May.

In September, during the final hearing of the trial, Wallace took the stand to defend his actions. In his testimony, Wallace denied operating a landscaping business from his property (despite his own lawyer saying he did in a separate case) and claimed that he was bringing in dirt to repair damage done to his property by Superstorm Sandy, among other defenses.

Bride made clear in his decision that he was not convinced by Wallace.

“The court finds the testimony of Mr. Wallace to be false in some aspects and not credible in others,” Bride wrote.

In his decision, Bride made note that the large amount of summonses being considered placed a significant burden on the court that he deemed “not fair to the Court, the prosecution or the defense.” Bride went on to blast “the inability or unwillingness of (New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection) to intervene when alleged dumping of solid waste, illegal materials or potentially hazardous materials occurs in small towns.”

A state case against Wallace, in which the New Jersey Attorney General has asked that Wallace be fined up to $150,000 daily, is ongoing in Superior Court. Wallace missed an October 3 deadline to respond to that penalty request, according to the Attorney General’s office. Oral arguments are scheduled for October 11, but that is subject to change.

Read Judge Bride’s full decision here.

This story was updated at 3:35 with comment from Rep. Gottheimer.

Michael Sol Warren may be reached at mwarren@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MSolDub. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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