TRENTON — The state Legislature's ethics panel today charged a South Jersey lawmaker $500 for violating the public's trust by filing a complaint against a State Police trooper who pulled him over for speeding last year.



The fine against Assemblyman Nelson Albano (D-Cumberland), approved 8-0 during a hearing by the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards, was the first to be handed down against a New Jersey legislator in 35 years.



The panel took up the matter in September after a complaint by Edward Beck of Dennis Township, who based his allegations on a Star-Ledger story published in April of last year.



Beck claimed Albano violated the public's trust by attempting to talk his way out of the speeding ticket, and then sending a letter on his Assembly letterhead to State Police requesting an internal investigation into the trooper's conduct.



An attorney for Albano, William Harla of DeCotiis, Fitzpatrick & Cole, said the lawmaker could not appear at the hearing today because of health issues. Harla said Albano accepted the penalty and would not challenge it.



"He deeply regrets and apologizes for the incident which is the subject of this hearing," Harla said. "He paid a price for his conduct, he was vilified in the last election campaign, he did lose his seat, and he continues to suffer emotional trauma."

Prior to the vote, Harla said Albano was innocent of the allegations.



The lawmaker claimed Trooper Randy Pangborn targeted him on his way to the Statehouse on Feb. 21, 2012, refused to accept his temporary vehicle registration, requested backup, and had other troopers box in his car. Albano said he was "humiliated, embarrassed and disrespected as a legislator."



"There was absolutely no reason to treat me like a criminal and detain two other troopers from public safety while trooper Pangborn conducted his charade," Albano wrote from his office to State Police Superintendent Col. Rick Fuentes.



But a video of the stop, captured by a camera inside the trooper's patrol car and obtained by the newspaper under the Open Public Records Act, told a different story from the one Albano described.



The trooper was respectful, calm, never raised his voice and had the lawmaker on his way in just eight minutes. Pangborn never rejected the temporary registration, and even apologized for writing the ticket. When Albano asked for a break, he politely told him to call the court.



The State Police said dispatch records indicated Pangborn did not request backup. Two other patrol cars were at the scene, the video showed, but they stayed only briefly.



The video, combined with statements Albano made when the newspaper first inquired about the stop, showed many of the allegations he leveled against the trooper were either false or unfounded. Albano has since withdrawn his complaint against the trooper, apologized and paid the speeding fine.



The traffic stop became the focal point of Albano's re-election campaign this year, with his foes creating a website and taking out advertisements to draw attention to it. He was one of only two incumbents and the only Democrat to lose re-election last month.



Al Porroni, the executive director of the Office of Legislative Services, said he believes the last time the ethics panel took any action against a lawmaker was in 1993, when two reprimands were handed down. The last time it fined a lawmaker was in 1978, he said.



Star-Ledger staff writer Matt Friedman contributed to this report.

RELATED COVERAGE

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• N.J. assemblyman apologizes for requesting special treatment for speeding ticket

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