Monroe DA: Constable, candidate lied about residency

A constable and a candidate in Monroe County have been charged with lying about their residences in order to be eligible for election.

The Monroe County District Attorney’s office said Vincent James Cefarello, 64, of Chestnuthill Township, has been charged in connection with a scheme to fraudulently obtain appointment to the office of Pennsylvania state constable in Polk Township.

Cefarello formerly served as the Pennsylvania state constable for Ross Township. In January 2019, Cefarello moved into Chestnuthill Township and resigned his position as constable for Polk Township. Pennsylvania law requires that constables and deputy constables reside within the municipality where they are elected or appointed.

Now living in Chestnuthill Township, Cefarello sought election as the Pennsylvania state constable for Chestnuthill Township, appearing on the ballot in the May primary election.

Cefarello was defeated in the primary and ran a write-in campaign for election as a constable in the November general election. He failed to obtain enough votes to win election to the office.

Cefarello, believing that the position of Pennsylvania State Constable in Polk Township remained vacant, subsequently changed his driver’s license address to the address of a friend who lives in Polk Township and then filed a petition with the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas seeking appointment to that position.

In that petition, Cefarello falsely claimed that he was a resident of, and registered to vote in, Polk Township, as would be required to hold the office he sought.

Cefarello has been charged by detectives from the Monroe County District Attorney’s Criminal Investigation Division with unsworn falsification to authorities, tampering with public records or information, and obstructing administration of law or other governmental function.

A preliminary hearing before Magisterial District Judge Kristina Anzini of Stroudsburg is pending.

The district attorney’s office also said that Manuel Rodriguez, 64, of Bronx, New York, faces charges of making knowingly false statements about his residence in order to seek reelection as a Constable in Delaware Water Gap.

Rodriguez, who has served as the Pennsylvania State Constable in Delaware Water Gap since 2014, sought reelection during the 2019 election cycle. Rodriguez, who actually lives in Bronx, New York, made several false statements about his residence, claiming to live in Delaware Water Gap.

In May, before the primary election, Rodriguez filed a petition with the Monroe County Court of Common Pleas seeking to appoint Joseph Maher as a deputy constable and listed Maher’s address as the same address as Rodriguez’s apartment in Watergap Village.

This petition came to the attention of detectives from the Criminal Investigation Division of the Monroe County Office of the District Attorney who were familiar with both Rodriguez and Maher, an attorney, from a pending criminal case against Rodriguez. At the time, Maher was believed to live in Emmaus, Lehigh County, making him ineligible to serve as deputy constable for Rodriguez.

Detectives learned that Rodriguez was, in fact, no longer living in Delaware Water Gap and was living in New York City.

The detectives confirmed that Rodriguez was physically living in Bronx, NY, while maintaining an apartment in Delaware Water Gap. An apartment he rarely visited but instead is occupied by his friend, Joseph Maher.

Despite not living in Delaware Water Gap, Rodriguez made several statements on official election paperwork claiming to live in Delaware Water Gap to secure his position on the ballot during the May primary and the November general election.

Rodriguez, the only candidate on the ballot for the office of Constable in Delaware Water Gap, subsequently won reelection.

Rodriguez faces charges of false swearing, unsworn falsification to authorities, and obstructing administration of law or other governmental operation. Additionally, the Office of the District Attorney is pursuing Rodriguez’s removal from office, as he’s ineligible to hold the office due to not living in Delaware Water Gap.