Erik Larsen

@Erik_Larsen

Detective Steven Mecka of the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office was terminated July 2.

Mecka filed a civil lawsuit in April in which he alleged widespread corruption in high places.

The county government has not disclosed the reason for Mecka's dismissal.

TOMS RIVER - A detective in the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office who alleged in an April lawsuit he was retaliated against for speaking out against official corruption has now been fired from his post, according to county officials.

Investigator Steven Mecka was terminated effective July 2, following an administrative disciplinary hearing, said Keith J. Goetting, director of Ocean County Government Employee Relations. The reason was not disclosed.

Goetting said the decision to terminate Mecka was made by Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph D. Coronato. The director referred all questions about the dismissal to the prosecutor, who was not available for comment Thursday.

Mecka, 41, had served as a detective in the Prosecutor’s Office since March 22, 2004. He received a total annual salary of $104,340 at the time of his dismissal, according to county records. Neither he nor his lawyer who represented him at the administrative hearing could be reached for comment.

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Mecka claims he was passed over for promotion and denied a transfer for “resisting and reporting misconduct within the OCPO; and reporting and seeking to prosecute criminal activity by public officials,” according to the litigation.

In April, Mecka filed a lawsuit in state Superior Court in which he outlined what he purported to be widespread "official corruption" in state, county and local government in Ocean County over the past decade.

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Most of the claims set forth in the serpentine, 21-page complaint lack specific details — an exception being allegations surrounding Freeholder Director Jack Kelly and handling of a criminal matter involving Dawn Marie Kelly, his daughter.

Mecka charged that aides to Gov. Chris Christie, fearing political blowback, attempted to shut down a criminal investigation involving the Kelly daughter ahead of the 2013 election; both men appeared on the same GOP ticket in the November election that year.

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Mecka said he was assigned to investigate theft claims against the Kelly daughter, who in December 2012 worked in the Little Egg Harbor Township tax collector's office. He charged that Little Egg Harbor Township Committeeman Ray Gormley told him he was visited by two aides to the governor who urged the official to use his influence to close the investigation "because it would look bad" before the election, according to the suit. Gormley has not responded to a request for comment.

Mecka alleged he was told Freeholder Kelly had attempted to influence Little Egg Harbor Township Administrator Garrett Loesch for his help in seeing that his daughter was not charged with a crime. Loesch, a Republican appointee, has not responded to requests for comment on the claims Mecka has made in the suit.

Dawn Marie Kelly later admitted to the theft of more than $40,000 in cash payments local taxpayers made to the office between November 2011 and July 2012. The younger Kelly had started stealing the money to support an addiction to pain killers, according to the state's prosecution of the theft charge.

Allegation: Freeholder influenced criminal probe

Under a plea agreement, she pleaded guilty to theft by unlawful taking, a third-degree crime with a possible sentence of up to five years in prison. However, the state Attorney General's Office recommended probation with no jail time on the condition she enter a long-term, in-patient drug treatment program and never work in New Jersey's public sector again. She was also required to pay restitution in the amount of $6,500.

Ultimately, Freeholder Kelly was able to influence the criminal prosecution of the case to the extent his daughter was not charged with the second-degree crime of official misconduct, Mecka alleged.

Kelly has denied the allegations and the Governor's Office has not responded to a request for comment. The county government has filed a motion to dismiss Mecka's suit and Coronato, through a spokesman, has denied the allegations concerning his office.

Most of the incidents outlined in the suit were alleged to have occurred under former Prosecutor Marlene Lynch Ford, a Democratic appointee, who is now the Superior Court assignment judge in Ocean County.

Allegation: Legitimate bribery case shut down

Mecka also charged he was prevented from investigating legitimate public corruption cases. For example, the detective claims that in the fall of 2010, he was pulled off a bribery investigation in Little Egg Harbor’s municipal government on the same day he was scheduled to interview a confidential informant who was expected to incriminate staff in the Prosecutor’s Office.

The lawsuit was transferred to Monmouth County in May.

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359 or elarsen@gannettnj.com