In a surprise move on Friday, New Jersey’s top law enforcement official took over the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office, installing a deputy to head the agency and announcing the current prosecutor’s immediate resignation.
State Attorney General Matthew Platkin said in a statement he was replacing James Pfeiffer, who has run the office since 2019, “effective immediately.”
The attorney general did not provide a reason for the ouster. A spokesman later told NJ Advance Media the move followed an investigation “into misconduct by members of the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office” by the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability.
Anthony Picione, an OPIA deputy director, will now serve as acting prosecutor, Platkin said.
“Tony Picione is a native son of Warren County and a career prosecutor and public servant who has dedicated his career to the public good and rooting out corruption,” the attorney general said in a statement.
Picione, who specializes in white collar crime and misuse of public funds, said in a statement he was “honored” by the appointment.
“Working with my colleagues to fight against corruption over the past twenty-four plus years has been a wonderful experience. I have often said that I have the best job in the world – being paid to try to do justice every day,” he said. “I consider myself very fortunate to have the opportunity to continue to serve the people of New Jersey, and the people of Warren County in particular.”
A listed number for Pfeiffer was not accepting calls Friday afternoon, while a deputy, Anthony Robinson, referred all questions to Platkin’s office.
Authorities from the state OPIA, which investigates corruption and official misconduct claims, were seen at the prosecutor’s office in Belvidere Friday afternoon. The scene appeared quiet from the street outside the prosecutor’s Hardwick Street office, which sits across from the Warren County courthouse.
Pfeiffer’s office has come under scrutiny for its handling of cases related to former Phillipsburg councilmen Frank McVey and Bobby Fulper, though it’s unclear if the state takeover is connected to those cases.
McVey was indicted by a Warren County Grand Jury in 2021 for allegedly threatening Mayor Todd Tersigni in a blackmail scheme. The office was removed from prosecuting the case in 2023 after Somerset County judge Peter J. Tober ruled that no one from the Warren County Prosecutor’s Office should handle the case because Pfieffer, the prosecutor, represented Tersigni as a private client a decade earlier.
Michael Symons, the attorney general’s spokesman, said a report on the OPIA investigation that prompted the move “will be made public once all impacted parties have received the required notice.”
Staff writer Rudy Miller contributed to this report.
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