Former Beverly EMS Chief James Daly Pleads Guilty to Theft

The former Beverly-Edgewater Park Ambulance Squad chief pled guilty Tuesday to stealing funds from the agency by giving himself an unauthorized salary increase of nearly $5,000, Burlington County Prosecutor Robert D. Bernardi announced.

James J. Daly, 42, of East Franklin Avenue in Edgewater Park, pled guilty in Superior Court to one count of third degree theft by deception.

Daly, former Edgewater Park mayor and the 2011 Edgewater Park Citizen of the Year, admitted before the Hon. Martin A. Herman J.S.C. that he illegally received the funds between July and October 2011. He became chief of the squad in 2004.

Under terms of the plea agreement, Daly will receive probation, forfeit his emergency medical technician license and be ineligible to hold public office in New Jersey. He must also make restitution in the amount of $4,792. Judge Herman set sentencing for Dec. 11.

Daly was able to orchestrate the theft because, in addition to being chief, he took on the responsibility of overseeing the squad’s finances after the organization’s treasurer became ill in May 2011.

The investigation was conducted by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Unit.