The Plea Disposition Conference (PDC) for Jamie Amato that was scheduled for this morning has been postponed until March 29, 2012. This – according to court personnel – is due to a discovery motion made by the defense attorney.
Jamie Amato was arrested in January of this year and charged with one (1) count of theft and two (2) counts of forgery in relation to missing funds from the Robert Gordon PTA. Additionally, records obtained from the Summit Police Department show that Jamie A. Amato was charged with four (4) counts of forgery and two (2) counts of theft by deception two years ago. These charges were in connection with two (2) incidents of credit card fraud that occurred at Overlook Hospital between the dates of March 14, 2010 and May 11, 2010. Ms. Amato pleaded guilty to these charges in Union County Superior Court in June 2010 and received Pre-Trial Intervention (PTI).
The Pre-Trial Intervention Program provides defendants, generally first-time offenders, with early rehabilitative services, when such services can reasonably be expected to deter future criminal behavior. Supervision under the PTI program may average from one to three years; in Ms. Amato’s case the program was for a one-year period until May 2011. If a defendant successfully completes all the conditions of PTI, then the original charges are dismissed and there is no record of conviction. If a defendant does not successfully complete the conditions of PTI, then the defendant is terminated from the PTI program and the case is returned to the trial list. Conditions for admittance into the program exclude a prior record of convictions or defendants who have previously been granted a diversionary program or conditional discharge.
At her first appearance before the court on January 25, 2012, Ms. Amato’s attorney stated that she was ineligible for PTI. An audio recording of that first appearance is available below:
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