Ted Sherman reports for The Star-Ledger:


Longshoreman Paul Moe Sr. was hardly ever at work.


The 66-year-old Port Elizabeth dockworker, who made $493,029 a year, was paid 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year–getting straight time, overtime and extra pay for holidays and weekends, authorities said.


However, investigators from the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor said he couldn’t be found on the waterfront many days, and frequently was out on his boat in Atlantic Highlands, at the movies, at home or on vacation in Aruba.


Convicted of fraud and conspiracy in connection with the no-show job, he faced nearly four years in prison. But a federal judge in Newark on Monday, citing the ambiguity of the union contract and the failure of his own employer to take action against him, sentenced Moe to just 24 months in prison. U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden also allowed him to remain free on bail pending an appeal.


Despite his conviction, Moe was steadfast in court maintaining that he had done nothing wrong. “I can look myself in the mirror and I know I’m innocent,” he told the judge. “I never defrauded anyone.”


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