Mailbox stuffing raises questions in Millstone
Former candidate may have violated federal postal regulations
BY JENNIFER KOHLHEPP
Staff Writer

MILLSTONE - The deputy mayor intends to call a former Millstone Township Committee candidate to the carpet for allegedly illegally stuffing mailboxes on the Saturday night prior to the election.

Deputy Mayor Robert Kinsey has alleged that John Pfefferkorn, a Republican who ran as an independent and lost in the Nov. 7 election, "perpetrated a huge fraud against Millstone residents" when he was stuffing mailboxes with campaign literature the Saturday evening before the election.

Kinsey said that between 8:30 and 9 p.m. on Nov. 4, he and another witness saw two individuals driving a Red Ford sport utility vehicle (SUV) around the area of Nurko Road.

"I was at a friend's house off Nurko Road, and I saw the Red Ford SUV pull around and stop at the mailbox," Kinsey said. "I knew it was too late to be the cleaning lady or landscapers so I thought this must be political stuff."

When Kinsey checked his friend's mailbox, he said he pulled out a flier titled "The Top 10 Reasons Not to Vote for [Nancy] Grbelja and [Elias] Abilheira."

"The flier was filled with outrageous allegations and boldfaced lies," Kinsey said.

"But," he continued, "the one thing that struck me most was that at the bottom it stated 'Brought to You by Concerned Citizens of Millstone Township' and was not endorsed by a candidate and did not have a party affiliation."

Not putting a name or using a fictitious name on campaign literature is a major infraction under the election reporting laws, according to Kinsey. Placing material in or on a mailbox violates federal postal regulations, he added.

Kinsey said he and his friend got into a truck and followed the SUV to get its license plate number.

"We witnessed the stuffing of 15-20 mailings into mailboxes," he said.

Kinsey said he took down the vehicle's license plate number, which he later found out was registered to Pfefferkorn.

Kinsey said troopers from the New Jersey State Police Hamilton Barracks arrived at his home later that night because the individuals in the SUV had filed a police report stating that they were being followed by a suspicious vehicle on Windsor Road. Kinsey said the vehicle was his.

The two individuals listed on the police report were Pfefferkorn and Jay Hyland, a former township Department of Public Works employee who had recently been terminated, according to Kinsey.

Kinsey called Pfefferkorn's police report "proof positive that he was the guy out there that I saw doing this."

He continued, "When John Pfefferkorn called the police, he apparently called the police on himself."

Kinsey said he filed a complaint about the incident with postal inspectors and expects to hear an update soon on their investigation. He also said he would file paperwork with the N.J. Election Law Enforcement Commission (ELEC).

Kinsey called Pfefferkorn "an extremely deceitful individual who is incapable of telling the truth."

Kinsey said, "If he was interested in the truth, he would have come out to debate the issues in public and would not have, under the cover of darkness, been shoving campaign literature comprised of out and out fabrications and lies into mailboxes in blatant violation of ELEC and federal postal regulations."

When asked for comment on the incident, Pfefferkorn said that on the evening of Nov. 4 he and a friend were replacing reportedly stolen campaign signs around town when "at one point a vehicle pulled behind us while we had pulled over to stop in Roosevelt."

Pfefferkorn alleged that the vehicle tailed him "dangerously for miles" and said that he pulled over several times to allow it to pass.

"[But] they would not pass," he said. "Instead, they followed dangerously on my tail.

"I called the state police from my vehicle," he continued, "and there is an extensive recorded message with the state police dispatcher while I was being followed."

Pfefferkorn said he provided the police with the vehicle's license plate number and that the police confirmed the vehicle was registered to Kinsey.

"The officers advised me [of the] charges that I could file and that the officer would begin the formal complaint filing on my behalf," Pfefferkorn said.

Pfefferkorn said he is aware that there were several cars distributing a flier published by a concerned group of citizens.

"For the record, it was not published, written or funded by me or Mr. [William] Nurko," Pfefferkorn said. "It is my understanding that the fliers were placed in newspaper bins and in some cases were placed in the box handles.

"I personally had not heard of any cases where they were in mailboxes themselves," he added.

"I wish them the best on that witch hunt," Pfefferkorn said. "I think the taxpayers would rather have [Abilheira and Grbelja] focus their energy on lowering our taxes than constantly playing head games. Sounds like they are still campaigning. I guess until they actually stop me cold, they will always know I am still a possible future opponent, so the constant political jabs at me will continue."

Grbelja, who currently serves as mayor and was re-elected in the Nov. 7 election, said Pfefferkorn should be aware that hand-delivering letters to mailboxes is an illegal activity. Not only that, she said, but as a candidate up for election, Pfefferkorn had a responsibility to tell who was disseminating the campaign literature.

"To make up a name like Concerned Citizens of Millstone Township is very deceitful," she said.

Abilheira, who also won re-election to the Township Committee on Nov. 7, said, "He's [Pfefferkorn] not supposed to be putting political material in people's mailboxes."

Abilheira agreed as well that since the literature did not indicate who paid for it, the fliers violated ELEC rules.

Kinsey said Pfefferkorn wants to create the appearance of a political witch hunt to avoid the truth.

"The truth does matter, and the truth will come out," Kinsey said.

"As an elected official, duty bound to protect and uphold the laws of our municipality, state and the United States of America," he said, "I will not rest until I see the individuals responsible for this egregious misdeed brought to justice."