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Quintin Lewis, 34, of Bloomfield admitted writing bogus checks using the routing and account numbers of a former employer to buy the car off Craigslist and pay his rent and cable bill, among other expenses.
First, however, he told the judge that his indictment was a mistake, that “this is a civil case, your honor” and that there were corporate takeovers that “we didn’t know about.”
Superior Court Judge James J. Guida at first refused to hear yesterday’s plea, calling a lunch break.
Quintin Lewis (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
When everyone returned, he told Lewis: “Before we broke you mentioned various names, various companies — and they’re completely fictitious. They’re from the movies.
“You want to tell me the truth this time?”
Defense attorney Ilene McFarlane apologized on her client’s behalf and called the deal with prosecutors “a good plea.”
Lewis then admitted writing phony checks on the account of Aaron Medical Transport, a company where he once worked as a dispatcher, to pay rent, his cable and car insurance bills and to buy the 2009 Mercedes.
Some checks he wrote while still with the company and others afterward, he told the judge.
As part of his plea deal, Lewis agreed to pay restitution to the victims — although he disagreed with the $22,000 amount. The judge, prosecutor and defense attorney agreed to review the restitution claims and select a dollar figure before the Oct. 3 sentencing on two counts of theft by deception.
Authorities said they arrested Lewis after he first bought the Mercedes with the bogus checks and a fake ID and then tried to retrieve it from an impound lot using his real driver’s license.
Lewis gave the seller two separate checks for the Mercedes Benz GL550 with AMG Wheels last September after spotting it on Craigslist, they said.
The victim tried depositing the checks, which his bank deemed worthless, the chief said.
Having no other information or identity other than the fictitious name James Fred Moss, Saddle Brook police entered the vehicle into a national database as stolen.
A month later, the Paterson Parking Authority impounded it for improper parking. Lewis showed up to retrieve it, providing his New Jersey driver’s license, but was turned away, Saddle Brook Police Chief Robert Kugler told CLIFFVIEW PILOT at the time.
As it turned out, Lewis had placed a stolen temporary registration plate on the SUV, he said.
Later that day, Lewis returned and drove the vehicle off the lot using a spare key, Kugler said.
Paterson police ran the vehicle identification number, got a hit from the database and called their Saddle Brook colleagues, he said.
After identifying Lewis, Saddle Brook Detective Capt. Vincent Laurentino and Detective Sgt. Thomas Johnson found him working for a private ambulance company in Elizabeth.
The missing SUV was at ambulance headquarters, Kugler said. It was returned to the victim.
Lewis, meanwhile, remained held on $75,000 bail in the Bergen County Jail.
“Resident Evil” centers on the Umbrella Corporation, a bioengineering pharmaceutical company, as the antagonist responsible for a zombie apocalypse stemming from the creation of a virus that escapes. The story’s heroine is Alice, who was once a security operative in The Hive, located deep beneath Raccoon City and sealed by The Red Queen.
Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor Edward Burke, defense attorney Ilene McFarlane, Quintin Lewis (STORY / PHOTOS: Mary K. Miraglia, CLIFFVIEW PILOT Courthouse Reporter)
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