This Monday morning, August 11th, former Manville Police Chief Thomas Herbst was sentenced in Somerset County Superior Court. The sentencing hearing began at approximately 9:47am.

In February, former police chief Thomas Herbst was found guilty by a jury. The charges and outcomes of today's hearing are:

• Four counts of official misconduct, second degree. One count of viewing pornography on a Borough computer was removed, reducing this to a total of 3 counts.
  7 Years for each count x 3 counts = 21 Years
• One count of pattern of official misconduct, second degree
  7 Years
• One count of sexual assault, second degree
  7 Years
• One count of criminal sexual contact, fourth degree
  1 Year

While the sentence totals 36 years, the judge ruled they will run concurrently. This means that Thomas Herbst will only have to serve 7 years in prison. He will receive 2 days of credit.

Mr. Herbst will become eligible for parole after serving 85% of the 7-year sentence. He will be required to be monitored on parole for life.

The defense filed a motion for "Bail Pending Appeal," but the Judge denied the motion after hearing arguments from both sides.

Mr. Herbst was immediately taken into custody from the courtroom, however, was not handcuffed in the courtroom.

Mr. Herbst has 45 days to file an appeal and can request a 30 day extension if needed. It is expected that an appeal will be filed.

Herbst was tried in Somerset County Superior Court for this case. The jury was unanimous in convicting the former police chief of these crimes.

Sentencing was originally scheduled for April 10th. Then, it was pushed back to May, and then further pushed back to June.

In June, the defense put a motion on the table for Judgement of Acquittal, which caused the Judge to postpone the sentencing portion until the motion was reviewed. This motion was ultimately denied. The sentencing hearing was set for Tuesday, August 12th, but was moved up a day to August 11th.

ManvilleToday will continue to monitor this case as it moves through the appeals process.