West Long Branch firefighter forged firefighter training certificates, prosecutor says

FREEHOLD - Authorities have accused a West Long Branch firefighter of falsifying and destroying official records involving training certificates for a firefighter.

Ronald Guidetti, 61, of Long Branch is charged with false uttering, forgery and falsifying or tampering with records, Monmouth County Prosecutor Raymond S. Santiago said in a statement Tuesday.

The worst of the charges carries a maximum prison term of up to five years, although first-time offenders frequently avoid prison time.

Santiago said "concerns were raised over the validity" of training certificates for the unnamed firefighter at West Long Branch Fire Company No. 2 earlier this year.

The prosecutor's office ivestigated, finding that Guidetti created the fake certificates to respond to an Open Public Records Act request filed with the fire company, Santiago said. After Guidetti fulfilled the request with the false certificates, he removed them from the filing system and destroyed them, Santiago said.

Guidetti turned himself in Monday and was released on a summons for a court hearing. His attorney, Robert Honecker of Ocean Township, said that Guidetti "has been fully cooperative with the prosecutor's office."

Ken Serrano covers breaking news, crime and investigations. Reach him at kserrano@gannettnj.com.