Constabulary: Opportunity

There are a few pearls in this story about a tax collector who collected taxes on a personal basis. Being American and all, we love opportunity.

Assistant Bergen County Prosecutor James Santulli said he was “gratified that the judge has remanded [Mikesell] to jail and has given him the opportunity to make restitution.”

And we also love the use of the verb “to fail.” It probably wasn’t the failure that Marlon Mikesell was worried about.

Authorities say that Mikesell received property tax payments that residents made in cash, handed them handwritten receipts, and then failed to enter the transaction in the computer system the borough used to track payments. The scheme netted him about $196,000 and was carried out between August 2006 and March 2007, they said.

Also: “scheme.” We love “schemes.” They’re so complicated!