His lawyer declined to comment on the decision.
CAMDEN -- A Camden County Correctional Facility officer was rightly suspended without pay for allegedly selling inmates' jewelry, a state appellate court ruled Wednesday.
James White, who appealed the May 2015 decision by the New Jersey Civil Service Commission, had been charged with conduct unbecoming a public employee, neglect of duty, misuse of public property and other alleged violations of the facility's policies.
White's attorney, Cherry Hill-based lawyer William Hildebrand, declined comment on the decison.
According to the ruling released Wednesday, inmates who are sent to Camden County's facility must surrender jewelry, cell phones and other personal property upon admission. The goods are documented and placed into an envelope by the Commissary Department while the inmate receives a receipt.
The ruling adds that goods not picked up by inmates are retained for 30 days, at which point they are inventoried again and disposed of under state guidelines with approval from the deputy warden.
White worked in the admissions department, where overflow from commissary ended up in 2010.
"Nevertheless, [White] began asking several of his superior officers whether he could sell the property for cash and use the money to buy supplies for the Admissions Department," the court document reads.
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According to the ruling, White asked a total of five corrections officers who outranked him to see if he could sell the goods, with a sergeant in October 2011 finally agreeing to the move. Together, they allegedly "culled out" gold and silver watches, chains and rings as well as cell phones.
"Despite these clear directives, [White] and the sergeant removed the jewelry contained in the storage cabinet and destroyed the envelopes that documented the items they took," the decision reads.
Between two jewelers he knew, White reportedly received nearly $3,000 for his haul. He later told a lieutenant about selling the property -- that lieutenant then contacted internal affairs. Despite returning some of the items taken, an internal hearing resulted in White's suspension without pay.
He later argued that "he had a lawful order" from the last sergeant he asked and claimed that he didn't get a straight answer from others while not being aware of the internal procedure for properly disposing of the items.
In their review of White's 2015 appeal, the deciding judges found White "was not even assigned to the [correctional facility's] Commissary Department, which was solely responsible for the maintenance of inmate property" and that "the lieutenants he asked about his scheme to sell the inmates' property repeatedly told him he was not permitted to do so."
Greg Adomaitis may be reached at gadomaitis@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @GregAdomaitis. Find NJ.com on Facebook.