McGreevey Ordered
to Hike Spouse Support

Former New Jersey governor James E. McGreevey was ordered Friday to more than double the amount of support he pays to his estranged wife.

The nation's first openly gay governor should pay Dina Matos McGreevey $2,500 a month, superior court judge Karen M. Cassidy ruled. Matos McGreevey had been receiving $1,129 a month but maintained that it was insufficient to meet the needs of herself and the couple's 5-year-old daughter.

Cassidy rejected Matos McGreevey's request for $4,000 a month, noting that Matos McGreevey said she needed to spend $2,200 a month on clothing. ''It seemed a little high,'' the judge said.

A lawyer for the former governor, Matthew D. Piermatti, argued that his client's income was decreasing now that he'd entered an Episcopal seminary. They had offered to increase support to $1,691 a month.

Cassidy said the $2,500 a month for Matos McGreevey would help preserve the status quo until a full trial on the divorce, which is scheduled for May.

Matos McGreevey earns $82,000 at Columbus Hospital in Newark. The former governor has earned an average of about $155,000 a year for the past five years.

McGreevey announced in August 2004 that he was gay and would resign. He said he had been the target of a blackmail threat from a former lover. (AP)