2 Brick Township Women Sentenced To 364 Days In County Jail For Running An Illegal Puppy Mill
Monday, August 19, 2024, 7:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
BRICK TOWNSHIP, NJ.- Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer reported, on Friday, August 16, 2024, Michele Nycz, 60, and Aimee Lonczak, 51, both of Brick Township, New Jersey, appeared in Ocean County Superior Court and were sentenced by Superior Court Judge Guy P. Ryan to 364 days in the Ocean County Jail as a condition of their 4-year probationary term.
Nycz and Lonczak had both previously entered guilty pleas to two counts of Animal Cruelty. On Friday, Judge Ryan also imposed a lifetime ban on owning or working with animals and a term of community service on both women. Additionally, Judge Ryan sentenced Lonczak to an additional 364 days in the Ocean County Jail on her previously entered guilty plea to one count of Child Neglect. This sentence will run concurrently with the animal cruelty sentence.
Animal Cruelty Investigation
The guilty pleas and sentences stem from an investigation that began on December 2, 2022, when members of the Brick Township Police Department responded to a residence on Arrowhead Park Drive after receiving a report that the occupants were running a puppy mill.
Upon arrival, Police Officers were met by Nycz and Lonczak in the driveway of the home. While talking with the two, Police Officers noticed a strong odor coming from the home and heard excessive barking.
Officers were granted permission to enter the home. While inside, They found animal crates containing dogs and cats stacked on top of one another. Due to the unsanitary conditions inside the residence, they were forced to leave.
Police Officers then requested assistance from the Ocean County Hazmat team and an animal rescue team. Rescuers and the Hazmat team subsequently removed 129 dogs and 43 cats located inside the home, as well as the bodies of two dogs that were dead.
Both Nycz and Lonczak, who lived in the residence with Lonczak’s 16-year-old child, were taken into custody and formally charged with multiple animal cruelty and child endangerment offenses. Following being processed on the charges, both women were remanded to the Ocean County Jail and were released a few days later on New Jersey’s bail reform conditions.
