NJ public works supervisor admits stealing county diesel for private business
⛽ A county supervisor admitted to sending his private company's employees to use county diesel pumps.
🚨 Prosecutors say the trucks were filled with county diesel almost every day from 2023 to 2025.
💰 His guilty plea includes $20,000 in restitution and a ban on future public employment.
HAMILTON (Atlantic) — A public works supervisor admitted using his county position to help his private business get diesel for free, according to prosecutors.
Joseph Ridley-Jenkins, 48, pleaded guilty to third-degree theft in Superior Court in Atlantic County on Wednesday. His plea includes up to four years in state prison, a ban on future public employment, and $20,000 in restitution, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office.
County supervisor also ran private business
Prosecutors said Ridley-Jenkins was a supervisor in the county Roads and Bridges Department and also ran a separate private business, Z5 Logistics.
Between 2023 and 2025, Ridley-Jenkins told employees of Z5 to go to the county pumps in Northfield and fill up their trucks with diesel without paying.
Prosecutors said they did it almost daily.
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Three employees also charged
Three Z5 employees are charged with theft by unlawful taking, a disorderly persons offense.
Those charges are still pending against Zakar Ridley, 26, of Mays Landing; Jason Meredith, 34, of Absecon; and Corey Smith, 27, of Pleasantville, according to Atlantic County Prosecutor's Office spokesperson Linda Gilmore.
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