MORRISTOWN — A state judiciary employee in Somerset County has been indicted by a Morris County grand jury on charges he stole $135,517 and tried to steal another $430,600 in pension, life insurance and retirement benefits from another employee minutes after she died in 2013.

Dennis Lordi, 59, of Old Bridge, was indicted on charges of theft by deception and attempted theft by deception. The case was transferred from Somerset to Morris.

Lordi, who worked as an administrative supervisor, has been suspended without pay since his arrest in October, according to judiciary spokeswoman Winnie Comfort. His annual salary was roughly $90,600, she said.

The indictment lists the name of the deceased Peapack woman as “Jane Doe.”

After the woman’s caretaker reported her death at 7:36 a.m. on July 8, Lordi attempted to change the primary beneficiary for her group life insurance and pension benefits to himself at 7:48 a.m., according to an affidavit signed by Somerset County Prosecutor’s Detective Justin Berger.

However, the Division of Pension Benefits denied the change, along with a payment of $430,600, because the woman was unconscious at the time, Berger wrote.

Using his work computer, Lordi was able to transfer $135,517 from Jane Doe’s deferred retirement account into an account set up for himself, according to Berger.

In a “post-Miranda statement” later, Berger said, Lordi admitted transferring or trying to transfer the money. He said “it was a mistake,” but claimed Jane Doe had told him in June 2013 that she would give him the money, Berger wrote.

In October 2013, Judge Julie Marino in Somerville issued an order that the money transferred from Jane Doe’s account to Lordi’s be frozen, according to court records.

Lordi’s attorney, Nicholas Moschella, said he had “no comment” on the indictment.

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