LaPlaca blows off court hearing to attend Knicks parade

Embattled Lumberton Township Committeewoman Gina LaPlaca failed to show up at a court hearing this morning because she was in New York to attend a ticker-tape parade celebrating the Knicks’ championship win.

Evesham Municipal Court Judge Adam Greenberg said his court staff indicated that LaPlaca never checked in, either in person or virtually, for her 10 AM hearing today. She faces charges of driving with a suspended driver’s license.

“It is now 11:08.  We’re going to mark that as a failure to appear, and we’ll determine the status of it at the next particular hearing,” said Greenberg, who did not issue a bench warrant for her arrest.

LaPlaca quickly responded to a message left on her cell phone with a text message: “I’m at the Knicks parade.  Whatever it is, I have no comment.”

Later, LaPlaca texted again to say she didn’t know she was due in court today.

“That’s news to me,” she said.  “If I was supposed to appear in court, nobody notified me.”

The state judiciary website listed the date, time, and place of her scheduled court appearance.  The courts confirmed that a notice of today’s hearing was sent to LaPlaca on May 21.

A Mount Laurel police officer stopped LaPlaca shortly before 8 AM on May 6 on Route 38 and Ark Road, about five miles from her Lumberton home, for driving with an expired registration.  She was issued a summons for driving with a revoked license.  Mount Laurel transferred the file to Evesham due to a potential conflict.

LaPlaca, a former mayor, pleaded guilty to child endangerment after a 2025 St. Patrick’s Day drunk-driving arrest; her blood alcohol level was four times the legal limit, and her three-year-old son was in the car.

In addition to her admittance into the state’s pre-trial intervention program (PTI), LaPlaca lost her driving privileges for 90 days as a first-time drunk driver.

LaPlaca claims her license should have been restored on March 14.  Superior Court Judge Craig Ambose reduced her suspension from 90 days to 12 days, granting her an 87% discount because she installed an interlock device to start her car.

In May, her now-estranged husband, Jason Carty, a school board member, was charged with trying to strangle her.  Carty is due to appear in court on July 6.

Earlier this month, LaPlaca lost a Democratic primary to retain her local government seat by a margin of 3-1.

The terms of LaPlaca’s probation included continued inpatient treatment, regular attendance at Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, and potentially other conditions dictated by the state Department of Children and Families.

In a statement to police officers, Carty alleged that LaPlaca is no longer sober.

This story was updated on June 18 at 2:37 PM.