A paid political consultant pleaded guilty Tuesday to arranging for deceptive “robocalls” attacking Republican Assemblymen Scott Rumana and David Russo to be placed to over 12,000 voters during the 2009 primary race.

Former Wood-Ridge resident Kevin Collins, 41, who was a paid political consultant for Republican challengers Joe Caruso and Anthony Rottino, pleaded guilty to a criminal complaint charging him with violating the Fair Campaign Practices Act, a disorderly persons offense, according to state Attorney General Jeffrey Chiesa.

Collins, who now lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., admitted before Superior Court Judge Donna Gallucio in Passaic County that he was responsible for an automated call that went out to thousands of voters in the 40th Legislative District on June 2, 2009, primary election day.

The call, which did not identify the campaign or political organization responsible for it, included disparaging remarks about then-incumbents Rumana and Russo and encouraged recipients to vote against the pair.

The call featured a voice of a woman who identified herself as "Ann," and falsely displayed the cell phone number of Rumana's former chief of staff, Ann O'Rourke.

Collins admitted that he obtained O'Rourke's cell phone number and provided it to an independent, out-of-state robocall service so that it would appear that the automated phone message originated from her, Chiesa said in a press release Tuesday.

In a joint statement issued Wednesday, Rottino and Caruso condemned Collins' actions, which they called "beyond the bounds of decency and common sense."

The pair claim Collins was not authorized to make and broadcast the call, saying in the statement it was "done without our knowledge or consent," and they did not pay for it.

"What remains troubling to us is that the people behind the call; the people who authorized and paid for it – and thus tainted our campaign – remain unknown," the statement read. "Those people should be revealed by the Attorney General’s office."

As part of a plea agreement, Collins was immediately sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to pay a $1,000 fine.

He was also ordered to apologize in writing to O'Rourke, and in return, the state dismissed a fourth-degree impersonation charge lodged against him in a 2010 indictment.

Rumana could not be reached for comment.

[Editor's note: This report was last updated at 11:10 a.m. Wednesday to include a joint statement issued by Caruso and Rottino.]