A man who fabricated a story about being carjacked is heading to prison.
Maurice Douglas received a three-year sentence on Monday, Acting Attorney General John Hoffman said. Douglas, 42, had pleaded guilty in March to insurance fraud, admitting he was hoping to get about $38,500 from his insurer.
Douglas, of East Orange, had reported a carjacking to police in March 2014, saying two men stole his 2007 Mercedes S-550 as he exited the vehicle at his house. He said one of the men pointed a rifle at him while the other stole his cellphone.
East Orange police found Douglas' car the next day in an abandoned lot, its headlights and taillights stripped with evident damage to its body and windshield. Authorities say Douglas called his insurer that day and filed a claim, saying he was carjacked.
Authorities say a police investigation uncovered time- and date-stamped surveillance video of the route Douglas said his assailants had taken to flee the area. But those videos did not show Douglas' car or another vehicle he had claimed one of the carjackers was driving.
