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Robert J. Hemberger, 41, of Island Park, NY, must complete 10 hours of community service, among various conditions of the New Jersey Superior Court Pre-Trial Intervention Program, for his role in the summer 2018 invasion of the World War II submarine.
Hemberger was one of five people charged with looting the landmark museum after it had been flooded.
The intruders parked nearby and swam through the river to the Ling, where they removed a lantern and Medical Corps lieutenant shoulder lapel, police said at the time.
Detectives identified the defendants from surveillance video and subsequent questioning.
Initially charged with burglary along with Hemberger were two Connecticut residents, Jon P. Stevens of West Haven and Laura Palmese of Colchester, both 52, Edward Johnson, 37, of Commack, Long Island and Stacey Bouley, 38, of Worcester, MA.
Authorities who arrested Stevens said they found items stolen from other locations while executing a search warrant at his home.
They originally thought the burglars stole four plaques dedicated to U.S. Navy seamen killed in World War II, but it turned out a member of the once-floating museum on River Street took them home for safekeeping.
Hemberger is the first to have his case resolved. The rest remain free pending trial or possible plea deals.
Superior Court Judge Christopher R. Kazlau admitted Hemberger's admission to the court's Pre-Trial Intervention Program in Hackensack on Friday, Sept. 2.
Available to defendants without prior criminal records, PTI can require community service, restitution and/or fines, psychological testing, urine monitoring or alcohol evaluations, depending on the severity of the offense. The charges are removed if the defendant follows those conditions for a specified time period, ordinarily a year.
Stuck in the silty riverbed, the USS Ling is on both the federal and state registers of historic places.
Built by the Cramp Shipbuilding Company of Philadelphia, SS-297 was commissioned on June 8, 1945 – three months before President Truman announced the end of World War II. She remained in New London, CT, before sailing for the Panama Canal Zone.
The high-speed attack sub -- named for the ling fish, also known as the cobia -- was decommissioned in 1946 having never seen combat. She was towed to the Brooklyn Navy Yard in 1960 and was converted to a training ship.
A non-profit organization saved the 312-foot, 2,500-ton vessel from the scrapyard in 1972.
The group brought the Ling the following year to Hackensack, where she was scrubbed, painted and polished for public tours as a memorial to "perpetuate the memory of our shipmates who gave their lives in the pursuit of their duties while serving their country.”
Compartments were refurbished and outfitted with authentic gear.
The New Jersey Naval Museum paid a dollar a year to rent the site behind the Heritage Diner until North Jersey Media Group announced in 2007 that it was selling the property.
Promises of restoration and relocation followed after Hurricane Sandy swept the walkway from shore in 2012, leaving the foundering sub severely damaged and mired in muck.
Various groups have tried to revive the Ling with varying degrees of success -- primarily the Louisville Naval Museum and USS Ling SS297 Museum, whose members have dedicated themselves to restoring her to her former glory.
Two years ago, the groups patched a 3-inch hole in the hull, cleaned up the interior, restored one of the dive klaxons and made the Ling's horn functional again.
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