Three-Year Prison Term For Ex-South Plainfield Rec Director

SOUTH PLAINFIELD, NJ — The man who ran the recreation department in South Plainfield borough was sentenced Friday to serve three years in state prison and must pay back the money he admitting to stealing from youth sports sign-up fees, announced the Middlesex County prosecutor.

Kevin Hughes, 50, of North Plainfield, was sentenced to three years in a New Jersey state prison. In addition, a Superior Court judge ordered him to pay restitution in the amount of $80,201 to the South Plainfield Recreation Department.

As part of the sentence, Hughes was also ordered to forfeit any future public employment.

As Patch reported, Hughes pleaded guilty on July 1 of this year to second-degree theft by unlawful taking, admitting he took more than $75,000 in recreational sports fees for the South Plainfield Rec Dept., and spent the money instead on his own personal use.

The thefts occurred over a six-year time span, prosecutors say, between July 2013 and February 2019. Hughes was the director for the South Plainfield Recreation Department since August 1, 2006; he previously was the assistant director since June 1, 2005.

He quit shortly before he was arrested, in February of this year.

Initial Patch report: South Plainfield Rec Director Arrested, Charged With Stealing

South Plainfield Rec Director Admits To Stealing $75K