Winslow committeeman says mixup led to indictment

To the Attorney General's Office, the Winslow Township committeeman abused his position as a high school coach when he spent $2,500 on uniforms for a private track club.

But to Committeeman Anthony Mitchell, a 46-year-old Democrat who says he is involved with seven nonprofit organizations, the allegations against him are an example of how his efforts to help Winslow's children are thwarted by vengeful officials.

Mitchell, who was elected in 2006, was indicted by a grand jury in May on one count of official misconduct and one count of theft by deception, the Attorney General's Office said.

He pleaded not guilty at an arraignment last week.

Mitchell was a teaching assistant, substitute teacher, track coach and wrestling coach at Winslow Township High School. He was fired in 2006.

The four-page indictment charges that around June 2003, before Mitchell was elected, he abused his position when he bought sporting apparel "by claiming he was an authorized agent of the school making a purchase on behalf of the school."

The indictment charges that Mitchell misrepresented himself, not that he stole school funds.

When the company, ARES Sportswear, came to the school to collect payment, the district refused, saying Mitchell was not allowed to place the order for $2,499.59, said Peter Aseltine, a spokesman for the Attorney General.

ARES then sought money from Mitchell. He and his mother have so far paid $1,600, Aseltine said.

Mitchell maintains that he simply encumbered a personal debt in financing the Dennis Mitchell Track Club, a youth group named for his brother, a three-time Olympian.

He denies ever having depicted himself as a representative of the district. ARES could not be reached yesterday for comment.

"I was trying to help this community and these kids," he said. "No good deeds go unpunished."

Mitchell said that to settle his personal debt, the company contacted one of his employers, the Winslow school district, he said.

"I wasn't even coaching at the school at the time," he said. "I couldn't physically have done what they said."

Mitchell said that the school district has struck out at him in other ways. He was fired, he said, after school Superintendent Daniel Swirsky wrote a controversial letter to the school community in 2007 that said poor and minority students hadn't performed as well as other Winslow students on state tests.

Some parents were in an uproar over the letter, and as the liaison to the Winslow Human Relations Commission, the committeeman passed their complaints along to the district.

Four days later, he was fired from the district, Mitchell said.

Swirsky, the district's outgoing district superintendent, would not comment on or confirm Mitchell's employment, his secretary said.

School board members and Mitchell's committee colleagues refused to comment or could not be reached.

Mitchell said he was offered a plea deal that would involve him leaving office. But he said he has not been interviewed by investigators.

"For 18 months, no one has asked me one question - they've just been out to punish," Mitchell said. "How do you have a grand jury investigation and not ask the person any questions?"

If he is convicted, he will have to give up his township committee seat and can never run for office again.

"Why are you trying to get me to leave office?" Mitchell asked. "From my point of view [the suit] is frivolous and a waste of taxpayers' money. We're in a tight time, and they're playing games with this kind of nonsense."

In 2006, a grand jury investigated Gordon Sunkett, the school board's vice president, about an alleged misappropriation of funds when he was the township recreation director. Charges were never filed.