TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Deborah L. Gramiccioni
announced that the former treasurer of the
Florham Parks Elks Lodge pleaded guilty today
to conspiring with Morris County Tax Commissioner
Anthony Crecco to steal from the Elks to gamble
in Atlantic City casinos.
According
to Director Gramiccioni, , the former treasurer
and house committee chairman of the Florham
Park Elks Lodge, pleaded guilty to an accusation
charging him with third-degree theft by unlawful
taking before Superior Court Judge John B.
Dangler in Morris County.
The
state will recommend that be sentenced
to a term of probation and be ordered to pay
$35,540 in restitution to the Elks lodge.
He must forfeit any public positions he holds.
He must also continue to cooperate in the
pending prosecution of co-defendant Anthony
Crecco. Deputy Attorney General Robert Czepiel
Jr. is prosecuting the case and took the plea
for the Division of Criminal Justice.
Judge
Dangler scheduled to be sentenced
on August 28.
is tax assessor for Berkeley Heights and also
runs his own company, Pyramid Appraisal Group,
which performs real estate appraisals and
consults clients on tax assessments. He was
tax assessor for East Hanover and Franklin
Township, Somerset County, from 2004 to 2008.
In
pleading guilty, admitted he conspired
with Crecco to steal funds from the Elks that
the two men used to pay their gambling debts.
An investigation by the New Jersey State Police
and Division of Criminal Justice determined
that Crecco and used the money to
pay off “markers” in Atlantic
City. Markers are lines of credit that casinos
offer to gamblers. The markers were in Crecco’s
name and were used to cover the two men’s
gambling debts. When markers were paid off,
Crecco obtained new markers, which were used
to return part of the money to the Elks lodge.
However, the men failed to repay thousands
of dollars to the Elks.
Crecco,
62, of East Hanover, was indicted by a state
grand jury on April 29 on charges he conspired
with to steal from the Elks. The indictment
also charges that he voted to award a county
contract to a software vendor, Vital Communications,
with which he had personal dealings; that
he rigged a raffle to obtain a computer donated
by Vital; and that he underpaid state sales
tax on a Mercedes he bought from Vital’s
chief executive officer, a friend, by underreporting
the price by $14,700. The nine-count state
grand jury indictment charges Crecco with
official misconduct and theft, among other
crimes.
A
full list of the charges against Crecco is
included in the April 29 press release at
www.njpublicsafety.com. The indictment is
merely an accusation and the defendant is
presumed innocent until proven guilty.
The
investigation was conducted and coordinated
by New Jersey State Police Official Corruption
Bureau, North Unit, and Analyst Allison Callery
and Deputy Attorney General Robert Czepiel
Jr. of the Division of Criminal Justice Corruption
Bureau.
Attorney General Milgram noted that the Division
of Criminal Justice Corruption Bureau has
established a toll-free Corruption Tipline
for the public to report corruption, financial
crime and
other illegal activities. The statewide Corruption
Tipline is 1-866-TIPS-4CJ.
Additionally, the public can log on to the
Division of Criminal Justice Web page at www.njdcj.org
to report suspected wrongdoing. All information
received through the Division of Criminal
Justice Corruption Tipline or Web page will
remain confidential.
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