A former NJ Transit supervisor pleaded guilty to stealing more than 1,000 cell phones from the agency and reselling them, a scheme that netted him almost a million dollars over the course of about four years.
37-year-old Peejay Manila began the theft in November 2020, according to prosecutors. Manila would purchase cell phones intended for NJ Transit employees, but instead sold many of the phones to buyback companies and used the money for travel, including to Japan and Dubai. He was working as the chief of NJ Transit’s digital workspace when he committed the theft.
Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend a five-year prison term, and Manila will be tasked with repaying the approximately $1,383,000 lost by NJ Transit. He made about $900,000 from the scheme.
“For years, this defendant stole from NJ Transit in order to fund his lavish lifestyle,” Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said. “He exploited his position of public trust for his own ends and hurt New Jersey taxpayers in the process. Our office will continue to protect the public fisc and ensure that all public servants perform their duties with integrity.”
Official sentencing before Judge James X. Sattely is scheduled for June. The Office of Public Integrity and Accountability in the Attorney General’s Office led the prosecution.
“He’s accepted responsibility for his actions, and he fully intends on rectifying everything with the state, with God, and with himself,” Manila’s attorney, Louis DeAngelis, told the New Jersey Globe.
In 2025, when police executed a search warrant, they found 20 phones in his possession, including nine that had been set to ship to a buyback company.
“Instead of serving the people of New Jersey, this defendant used his position for his own personal benefit,” Eric Gibson, the executive director of OPIA, said in a release. “Our office will continue to work tirelessly towards rooting out this type of public corruption in New Jersey.”
In a final blow to Manila, he’ll owe about another $56,000 to the government — he failed to pay taxes on his ill-gotten gains.
This article was updated at 11:08 a.m. on April 1 with a statement from Manila’s attorney.