A former New Jersey State Police trooper once assigned to then-Gov. Chris Christie’s security detail has lost his appeal after being fired for shoplifting from a Pennsylvania Cabela’s.

In a decision handed down on Monday, the Superior Court of New Jersey upheld William Carvounis’ termination from state police for misconduct.

A message left for Carvounis’ attorney was not immediately returned.

Acting Superintendent Patrick J. Callahan made the final decision in May 2018, and Carvounis appealed.

Carvounis faced the misconduct charges after he was charged with shoplifting from the Berks County Cabela’s sporting goods store in 2014.

Carvounis was visiting the store with a friend in January 2014, when surveillance cameras recorded him hiding items in the pockets of his cargo-pants, switching the packaging on a pair of binoculars to make them cheaper, and taking the tag off of a cap and wearing it as he walked to the store’s checkout.

Police said he bought about $200 in merchandise, but tried leaving the store with an additional $277.38 worth of items without paying. Carvounis was stopped as he tried to leave by Cabela’s employees and a Tilden Township police officer.

Carvounis initially denied the thefts, and then reportedly said he was part of the governor’s security detail and “he needed to purchase (the items) himself due to budgetary cutbacks.”

Carvounis asked the Tilden officer for a break, specifically for professional courtesy in the matter, according to court records.

Carvounis was charged with two counts of retail theft, and was eventually allowed to enter a first-time offender program called Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition. He completed the program in August 2014, and the charges were expunged from his record.

Carvounis was suspended without pay, and then charged with violating three of the Division of State Police’s rules and regulations.

Following hearings in the summer of 2015, an administrative law judge found Carvounis guilty of two of the charges, violating laws in the U.S. and using or attempting to use an official position to secure unwarranted privileges or advantages.

The judge found a "more appropriate penalty” was for Carvounis to be suspended until she issued her decision on April 5, 2018, court papers state.

The next month, Callahan accepted the two guilty findings, but rejected clearing Carvounis of discrediting himself or the division of state police, and determined Carvounis should be fired.

Carvounis’s appeal claimed the termination was “shocking to one’s sense of fairness,” among other arguments.

The three-judge panel disagreed, and said the acting superintendent’s actions were supported by “substantial, credible evidence in the record,” including testimony about Carvounis shoplifting from the store, his falsely claiming the stolen items belonged to him, claiming the stolen items were needed for work due to budgetary cutbacks and then asking for special treatment because he was a trooper.

Sarah Cassi may be reached at scassi@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @SarahCassi. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook.