For the last two years, a 45-year-old woman from West Virginia posted letters all around the internet saying how wonderful it was to work for First Priority Pay in Hoboken, sometimes offering tributes to her young boss, CEO Jerry Carter.
She wasn’t the only one praising Carter. New Jersey Business Magazine named him one of their top “Movers and Shakers” in the state this year. Carter had once worked for the major payroll firm ADP, eventually started his own payroll firm in Hoboken, and became a self-made millionaire.
But the 30-year-old Carter was forced to defend himself against a raft of bizarre charges on Tuesday when the Hoboken Police Department alleged that he kept the 45-year-old employee in a state of “involuntary servitude” at one point this year. The police also claim that he allegedly threatened her, made all sorts of strange requests of her, and told her to take out a $150,000 life insurance policy on herself, with him as the beneficiary.
“Mr. Carter must be afforded the presumption of innocence.” – Hoboken police press release
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Carter was taken into custody by the Hoboken police Tuesday and released on $100,000 bail that night. He was charged with kidnapping, criminal restraint, and harassment.
He will plead not guilty to the charges when he has his first court appearance this week, Hayden said.
Cat on a pizza
Police said Tuesday that the apparent victim was hired as a telemarketer for Carter’s firm in 2006 and began working out of her West Virginia home. But in 2009, she moved to a series of hotels in North Jersey, where she stayed for approximately seven months. Then, in October, she moved into an apartment owned by Carter.
Someone tipped police off to the strange situation involving the woman, and police went to the Adams Street apartment to question her.
“Apparently the initial call was that someone was being held against their will, and a uniformed patrol officer talked to her,” said Detective Bureau Commander Lt. Mark Competello on Wednesday. “She lived in an apartment that was sparsely decorated, with little furniture. She started to tell this story. There was other corroborating evidence from employees. There were tapes and cell phone recordings of him [allegedly] engaging in this behavior, yelling, and a lot of e-mails, pictures. There’s nothing sexual, but there’s other evidence, and a couple of witnesses who corroborated this.”
Among the most bizarre charges is that Carter allegedly demanded that the victim wait for 12 hours in a Starbucks coffee shop. Competello said that this resulted in the kidnapping charge, even though Carter did not necessarily bring her to the coffee shop himself.
In a more disturbing allegation, police said Carter allegedly had the woman take out an accidental death policy on herself, with him as the beneficiary – a policy that, according to Competello, police have seen.
And in another twist, police say Carter asked her to eat a pizza after a cat was standing on it – and send him a cell phone photo to prove it.
Competello noted Wednesday that the apparent victim had studied in Portugal to be a nun, and was “naïve” and “not worldly.”
The woman, who describes herself on the internet as a fan of blogging, Jesus, and poetry, has numerous glowing tributes to her job on the ’net.
She also writes of how she grew up poor in a small Indiana town, set out to travel the world, and then studied to be a nun. However, she could not perform certain religious duties because of health issues. “I spent time serving Jesus and now work for an awesome payroll company,” she wrote in a web profile in 2007. “I do live private vows, as I wanted to be a nun.” She writes elsewhere that she enjoys working with the disabled and elderly, and that she had taken a vow of virginity.
Competello said Wednesday that he was unaware of the victim’s numerous internet essays and postings, which were discovered by the Reporter.
This past July, she (or someone using her name) wrote an essay on a website called Associated Content about living in a hotel across from Newark Airport. She stated in the essay that she was going to at first “paint a sorrowful picture of my life next to airport, but as I began to write, the awesome reality of how much beauty there is around me came to light.”
In a post the same month on another website, RipoffRepot.com, she defends her boss and her company from anonymous people making complaints against it. She lists her address as that of an Extended Stay Hotel in Elizabeth, N.J. She also describes Carter as her “best friend.”
In the last two months, the woman began to post letters of regret that the company was recently sold to ADP and that her job would end. She included her e-mail address for people who knew her to write her.
It was only in the last few weeks that she hinted at displeasure with her situation.
“So here it is,” she wrote recently. “I no longer work for First Priority Pay. It’s not that I didn’t love my work, as I loved my work very much, or that I had anything against anyone I worked with; there was more going on than work and the situation had to be stopped. I found out all about the sale to ADP and knew time was slowly dwindling; yet I still gave 101 percent to what I did. I miss my work … Some very good advice. Don’t let anyone bully you or scare you into things you don’t believe in. Bullies are really cowards who pick on the weak. They use power as a way of scaring people into doing things beyond that which is required and threats to keep control over your life. If you are in a controlling situation, get out. Don’t let it get out of hand. Call 911 if you ever feel that you are in an abusive relationship, whether it is at home or work.”
Competello said that to his knowledge, the woman has returned to West Virginia.
The tip
Earlier this month, a different employee at the firm was arrested and charged with embezzling $500,000. Carter’s company filed a lawsuit against him.
One source said that this employee may have provided the police with the tip about the situation with the woman.
Competello said police have more evidence than just the woman’s word.
“In some of the tapes that we have,” he said, “we could hear his demeanor. It was [allegedly] like domination, screaming, yelling, giggling about what he’d [allegedly] just done.”
On the day the police arrested Carter, they issued a press release detailing the allegations: “Hoboken police (HPD) have made an arrest of a 30 year-old Hoboken business executive for kidnapping; criminal restraint; harassment and bias intimidation.” The release states, “The victim also states she was also never provided a key to the apartment. The victim detailed disturbing and bizarre acts she was [allegedly] forced to perform on orders of Carter, who [allegedly] demanded he be called ‘DOM’ short for DOMINATOR. Carter [allegedly] threatened the victim with harm if she reported her living conditions or treatment to police, including retaliation by others.”
The investigation was headed by Det. Sgt. Edwin Pantoja and Det. Richard Torres.
Competello said, “The allegations and behavior alleged by the victim in this case are both bizarre and disturbing … However, Mr. Carter must be afforded the presumption of innocence, until such time these allegations are adjudicated in a court of law.”
Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio said Thursday that the case has been referred to his office so that it can be presented to a grand jury.
DeFazio said that Carter will have a court appearance this week to enter a plea.
DeFazio said his office was not involved in the investigation. He said his office would not usually get involved unless there was a murder or sex crime.
Defending himself
“The criminal charges against Mr. Carter are false,” said Carter’s attorney, Joseph Hayden, Friday morning. “The truth is that the alleged victim worked for the company for over four years out of her place of residence. The truth is, Mr. Carter met the alleged victim only two or three occasions for a brief period of time and never socialized with her. The truth is that Mr. Carter responded to requests from the alleged victim for help and advice.”
Hayden added, “When all of the facts come to light and the motives of all involved are exposed, it will be clear that these charges are completely false. Mr. Carter and his family are committing to fighting the charges.”
Hayden was asked about the life insurance policy. “He did nothing inappropriate with respect to a life insurance policy or anything else,” Hayden responded, but said he would not comment on any other specifics.
Tough boss, humble beginnings
A press release sent to newspapers about Carter this past March detailed his rise from humble beginnings. It said that he grew up in a family where no one went to college. He graduated from Linden High School and joined the Army reserves. Along the way, he found that he was an excellent salesman.
The release says, “Carter is still very exacting of his staff, expecting them to work as professionally as he does. ‘I don’t tolerate excuses,’ Carter said. ‘My people have to be accountable for what they do. If you come to work, leave your outside problems at the door. I expect the staff to focus on work to get the job done.’ ”
Victim suing for two weeks’ pay
In a recent internet posting, the alleged victim in the case touted the services of an employment attorney, Herbert Tan of Newark. When contacted Thursday, Tan said he is representing her in Jersey City Special Civil Court in an effort to get her last two weeks’ worth of pay, or $1,400.
Tan said the complaint was filed around Nov. 16, and that they are actually seeking a total of $15,000, the upper limit allowed by the court, based on circumstances like attorneys’ fees that are allowed by the law.
When asked about other times she may have worked without pay, Tan said, “Based upon whatever occurs arising out of the criminal matter, we’ll make a decision how to approach the other issues.”
Tan said that his client was working for the company until around Nov. 4, but that he wasn’t sure whether she quit or was fired. “That’s a little mystery here on my part,” he said.
Caren Matzner can be reached at cmatzner@hudsonreporter.com.