Tenafly, NEW JERSEY

April 10, 2008 - A former Tenafly (N.J) councilman who was sentenced to five years' probation in 2006 for buying heroin was arrested after fleeing the courthouse rather than provide a urine sample as ordered. He is being held without bail. The prosecutor will be seeking prison time for the probation violation when Jeffery Romano appears in court on April 18.

Jeffery Romano has twice had drugs in his urine in recent months. He resigned from his council seat after pleading guilty to the drug charges in May 2006.

Shortly after being elected to a second term as a Democratic councilman, Romano was arrested at the Bradley Court housing complex on South Munn Avenue in December 2005 with 40 envelopes of heroin. Prosecutor's investigators watched him pull up to the drug-ridden complex in a 2006 Chevrolet Corvette and drop off a passenger, who went inside and got the drugs.

After his guilty plea, Romano was sentenced on July 11, 2006, to five years of probation and 150 hours of community service.

Romano, who had a record of drug arrests prior to his election as a councilman, has admitted an ongoing battle with heroin addiction. He acknowledged that he used the drug even in the period between his guilty plea and his sentencing.

On May 23, 2008, he was sentenced to four years in prison. He admitted he was a drug addict.