On the same day Gov. Phil Murphy signed the $15 minimum wage bill into law, a group of Rutgers University student activists who campaigned for that cause on campus pleaded guilty to criminal charges that stemmed from a minimum wage protest.

New Brunswick Court Judge James Hoebich issued a fine of more than $750 each on Monday to a dozen students who faced multiple disorderly persons offense charges brought on after a 15-minute protest of a Rutgers board of trustees meeting in December 2017.

“There were at least 65 students involved in this protest, and for some reason that we don’t know, 26 were identified in police reports and charges were brought against only 12,” said Ira Mintz, of the Somerset firm Weissman & Mintz, who defended 11 of the 12 students. “They’re owning up to what they did.”

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Hoebich also gave the students a six-month probation period, after which the criminal charges would be wiped from their records.

The students were members of Rutgers United Students Against Sweatshops, which campaigned for months under the #FightFor15 slogan to pressure university President Robert Barchi to raise the campus minimum wage to $15 an hour.

The students disrupted a board of trustees meeting as part of that campaign by crossing a barrier and a line of Rutgers University police officers. Footage of the meeting shows that the students chanted for a minimum wage increase and didn’t listen to requests to stop so the meeting could be conducted.

The video shows that the meeting ended after 15 minutes without the members' addressing any agenda items.

“They thought it would lead to Rutgers disciplinary charges — they didn’t expect criminal charges,” Mintz said to the judge.

Mintz said the students each faced probationary periods from the university over the last year. He said the fines the students face were steep considering that the charges stem from a student protest.

“The judge’s decision in this matter was determined after a full review of the facts,” Rutgers spokeswoman Dory Devlin said in a statement. “It wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on the judge’s ruling.”

Devlin said the university strives “to foster an environment where the rights of all are protected.”

“All students are expected to review and abide by the Rutgers University Code of Student Conduct and university disruptions policy, which recognizes that the right of free expression does not include the right to engage in conduct that disrupts the university’s operations or endangers the safety of others,” Devlin said.

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