Mayor Arrested For Allegedly Selling Office Furniture Through Facebook Marketplace

Paul Kennedy, the mayor of Ocean Gate, New Jersey, reportedly sold his own office’s furniture on Facebook Marketplace and kept the money for himself instead of turning it over to the government.

The 66-year-old allegedly sold borough furniture, including some from his office, on a government auction website as well, alleged Ocean County prosecutors.

On Friday, Kennedy was charged with theft and official misconduct, reported the Daily Beast. An extensive investigation found that Kennedy failed to turn over sales of Ocean Gate assets “sold by way of government auction” on GovDeals.com, said Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley Billhimer. The Mayor also allegedly pocketed some of the borough’s parking meter money.

The small borough within Ocean County is resided by a couple thousand people. Billhimer said that the mayor was released on a summons pending his next court date. NBC New York reported that attorney information for him was not immediately known.

Councilwoman Mildred Sheppard, 97, was shocked to hear the news, according to Yahoo! News. Sheppard, who said the mayor convinced her to run for council last year, was skeptical of the charges. She said that she has "nothing but praise for this man," and that he has "saved residents so much in taxes." She found the news to be "devastating," and said that his "heart is in this town.” For her, Kennedy is like a "son to me.”

Kennedy is also employed as a carpenter in the county government’s Building and Grounds Department, assistant Ocean County Administrator Michael J. Fiure said. He added that Kennedy was suspended without pay following the allegation. The county government has got no information that any of the alleged conduct extended to his work as a county employee, said Fiure. He shared that Kennedy's current annual salary is $52,322, and he was hired by the county on May 7, 2001. A few years ago, he had complained to a journalist that he thought he was underpaid given his status as a Republican elected official in the county.

In 2015, he was sued by local Democrats for not disclosing four borough jobs on financial disclosure forms and not agreeing to step down from them once he was elected.