New Brunswick Councilwoman Pleads Not Guilty in First Court Appearance Since March Crash

NEW BRUNSWICK – Councilwoman Suzanne Sicora-Ludwig pleaded not guilty Wednesday in her first court appearance since being charged with DWI and other charges stemming from a one-vehicle accident on March 8.

Highland Park Municipal Judge Edward Herman, who will hear the case, ended the 9-minute arraignment by stating that the case would be adjourned for at least 30 days.

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Freehold-based attorney Joseph Surman told Herman that he was still seeking documents related to the case, including ones involving the blood that was drawn from Sicora-Ludwig and the lab testing that was conducted. He also said he was awaiting a narrative report from the New Brunswick Prosecutor’s Office.

Sicora-Ludwig, whose blood-alcohol level was .26 when she drove her 2014 Range Rover into a tree on Edgebrook Road according to the New Brunswick Police Department crash report, could be facing jail time and fines.

A blood-alcohol reading above .15 comes with a sentence of up to 30 days in jail, a fine of up to $500, up to 48 hours in the state’s intoxicated driving program and a license suspension of up to three months. Use of a breath alcohol ignition interlock device could mitigate the amount of the fine and the length of the license suspension, Herman said.

After informing Sicora-Ludwig of the potential fines and penalties, he asked her if she understood the charges.

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“Yes, I do, your honor,” she said via telephone.

In fact, Sicora-Ludwig spoke only three times during Wednesday’s hearing, which was held via Zoom and telephone technology. Each time was in response to Herman asking her if she understood what was happening in the case.

Sicora-Ludwig received 742 votes during the June Primary. She and three other council members, Manuel Castañeda, Glenn Fleming and John Anderson, will be unopposed on the ballot for the November election.

A fifth council member, Matthew Ferguson, is running on a different ballot line for an unexpired term created when Kevin Egan left the council to join the General Assembly in January.

Sicora-Ludwig first joined the City Council in 2017.

The news of her crash and subsequent charges was first reported by New Brunswick Tomorrow .

In an exclusive interview with TAPinto New Brunswick in May, she said she will also continue with her many volunteer and philanthropic efforts as she works to “earn back everybody’s trust.”

“I can say that I have always tried to serve my community and so many other people from the bottom of my heart, with the most integrity that I’ve ever been able to do,” said Sicora-Ludwig, 56. “I made a lapse in judgment that night, and I hope that I’m able to regain their trust and I hope they understand that regardless of the impending issue in traffic court, however that plays out, it will not affect my direction in serving anybody or doing my best for the people that live in my heart all the time.”

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