Mariano's Sentencing Postponed Until May 19

The sentencing of Paolo “Paul” Mariano has been postponed until May 19, said Senior Assistant Passaic County Prosecutor Robert Pringle.

Pringle did not give any information as to why the sentencing was delayed. A spokesperson with the State Attorney General’s office could not be reached for comment.

Mariano, a Wayne resident, in March to stealing $20,000 in cash from a car and engines from two others seized by the county during a narcotics investigation in 2004, the state’s Division of Criminal Justice announced.

Mariano was director of the Passaic County Garage at the time the thefts occurred.

Authorities said the car was being repaired for use as an undercover vehicle in 2005 when county mechanics found the cash in a hidden compartment. The mechanics told Mariano, who took possession of the car and cash, directing them not to report anything. Mariano then had a mechanic disassemble the car.

Mariano also admitted that he directed county mechanics to remove an engine from a 1995 Toyota 4-Runner that had been seized by the county. Mariano had the mechanics place the engine into a 1993 Toyota 4-Runner that he had given to his girlfriend.

The stolen engine was in better condition than the one it replaced, authorities said. Mariano sold that vehicle, with the stolen engine, for $2,000 to an undercover detective in May 2010.