ASBURY PARK PRESS

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12 hours in
Toms River

Day full of friendly

people, quiet
moments and
good food and
drink. Indulge, 1D

SATURDAY 03.21.15

SUICIDE BOMBERS KILL MORE THAN 130 WORSHIPERS IN YEMEN PAGE 1B

NO SPRING IN OUR STEPS

Solomon
Dwek has
been
placed in
home
confinement after his
release this
week from
federal
prison.

Informant
released
from prison
Dwek served less than
30 months of 6-year term
JEAN MIKLE AND STEPH SOLIS
@JEANMIKLE AND @STEPHMSOLIS

PHOTOS BY TOM SPADER/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

Above: A commercial fishing fleet covered in snow dockside at the Co-Op in Point Pleasant Beach on Friday, the first day of
spring. Below: A robin stands on the snowy grass in Point Pleasant Beach.

To see
a photo
gallery
of snowy scenes
around the Shore
on the rst day of
spring, scan the
QR code or
visit

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Solomon Dwek, the Monmouth County man at the

center of the states largest federal corruption sting,
was released from federal prison this week, after serving less than 30 months of a six-year term, officials said.
Dwek was transferred March 17 from federal prison
in Cumberland, Maryland, into a local halfway house,
U.S. Prisons Bureau spokesman Ed Ross said. He was
placed in home confinement days later.
The 42-year-old real estate investor and son of a
prominent rabbi was released due to good conduct and
the 16 months he spent in jail after his bail was revoked,
Ross said. U.S. District Court Judge Jose L. Linares revoked Dweks $10 million bail in June 2011 and sent him
to federal prison after he failed to return a rental car and
lied to the FBI about it.
While in home confinement, Dwek will be under supervision, Ross said. He will be able to leave the house to
go to work and attend certain community activities.
When Dwek was sentenced by Linares in October
2012, the U.S. Attorneys Office asked for a sentence of
between three and four years for the admitted con man.
Government officials cited Dweks level of cooperation
with the government, which made him the most significant cooperator the U.S. Attorneys Office in New JerSee DWEK, Page 7A

FEMA nearing
pact with 800
N.J. Sandy victims

Latest snowstorm adds

more misery to already
budget-breaking costs
BOB JORDAN @BOBJORDANAPP
TRENTON Fridays snowfall heaped misery on top
of fiscal injury for taxpayers.
The state Department of Transportation says it has
spent a budget-breaking $100.4 million on winter operations and snow removal costs this season through
March 6.
That figure does not include spreading liquid calcium chloride and brine in advance of Fridays storm.
The state already is $11 million over the $89 million
budgeted through initial and supplemental appropriations for winter operations this fiscal year. Many municipalities, of course, have exceeded their budgets for
clearing local roads.
DOT spokesman Steve Schapiro said there have
been 43 events where workers and contractors have
been mobilized for tasks ranging from plowing for
heavy snowfalls to treating roads after storms to prevent refreezing.
Last winter was also brutal, producing 50 events.
Municipal budgets also are getting crushed this
winter.
In Berkeley, where there are 271 miles of roads and
more than 300 cul-de-sacs to maintain, the March 5
storm depleted the $450,000 put aside for winter operations and snow removal. Officials said they will have to
shift money from other line items or use surplus funds
as needed.

See SPRING, Page 5A

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RUSS ZIMMER AND NICOLE GUADIANO

@RUSSZIMMER AND @NGAUDIANO

Hundreds of superstorm Sandy victims who believe

their claims were low-balled by insurers would receive
payouts within 21 days under a universal settlement
that is nearing its final form, a lawyer involved in the
negotiations said Friday. The Federal Emergency Management Agency announced the day before that it
agreed with plaintiffs, including some 800 in New Jersey, on language regarding settlement conditions and
the rights and obligations of the parties.
While details of those terms were not disclosed,
attorney Bill Kelly, who represents 700 policyholders in
See SANDY, Page 7A

A flower covered in snow in Point Pleasant Beach on Friday,

the first day of spring.

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11A
1C
12C
4A

VOLUME 136
NUMBER 69
SINCE 1879

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