$67K restitution, 5 yrs probation in travel agent theft

PRESS RELEASE
November 4, 2011
For Immediate Release
Contact: Bernie Weisenfeld- PIO

Facing more than a dozen customers in court, Ellis Hester (DOB 7/18/56), of 1236 Mt. Vernon Ave., Gibbstown NJ was sentenced today to five years on probation and ordered to repay them $67,380 in deposits for a June 2011 Mediterranean cruise they never took because Hester, as a travel agent, kept their money.

Hester pleaded guilty Aug. 15 to a charge of theft.

The restitution to 20 customers is “a conglomeration of $3,369 to each of the victims,” Assistant Gloucester County Prosecutor Joseph Brook said.

Superior Court Judge Walter L. Marshall Jr., upping Hester’s monthly restitution order from the defendant’s proposed $300 to $400, reminded him that two missed payments would violate his probation and may put him in jail. The repayment schedule will be reviewed later “so the maximum amount can be paid to the victims,” the judge said. Hester’s lawyer said he remains “gainfully employed.”

The customers, some of whom had used Hester’s Deva Travel agency in Monroe Township NJ for years, said they felt betrayed and embarrassed, since long-time customers persuaded trusting friends to take the cruise with them. Some were retirees who took on extra work to pay for the trip and others were looking forward to their first travel abroad, they said.

Hester did not explain the reason for the theft but said he felt “real bad” about it.