Spalliero pleads guilty in Marlboro scandal
Developer admits he bribed former mayor to advance projects

Developer Anthony Spalliero pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Trenton on Dec. 5 to making bribe payments to then- Marlboro Mayor Matthew V. Scannapieco, and to conspiring with Scannapieco to conceal the bribe payments from the IRS and other government authorities, U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie announced.

Spalliero, 65, of Holmdel, admitted that on multiple occasions between 2001 and 2003 he made cash payments to Scannapieco, who was then the mayor of Marlboro and a member of the Marlboro Planning Board. Spalliero also admitted that he paid Scannapieco more than $100,000 in exchange for Scannapieco's support for Spalliero's projects.

Spalliero was represented in court by attorney Michael Critchley. Calls placed to Critchley's office by the News Transcript seeking comment on Spalliero's behalf were not returned.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Spalliero entered his guilty plea before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson to two counts of bribery and one count of tax fraud conspiracy.

Thompson scheduled sentencing for March 17 and Spalliero remains free on bail in the meantime. He is confined to his home with electronic monitoring and has $2 million in real estate equity posted to secure his bail.

Under the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, Spalliero faces a probable sentencing range of between 70 and 87 months in federal prison. Thompson, however, has discretion and can impose a sentence within the range or above or below the range.

"The cases of Spalliero and Scannapieco are among the most glaring examples I've seen of the impact of official corruption on the public and a community," Christie said. "With large sums of bribe money, Spalliero bought the votes and influence of the mayor on critical development projects that changed the landscape of one of the state's fastest growing municipalities."

One Spalliero project, for which he paid Scannapieco approximately $100,000, was the proposed redevelopment of the former site of the Marlboro Airport on Route 79.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Spalliero admitted in court that he paid Scannapieco $40,000 during one occasion in late 2001 or early 2002, and other cash payments totaling $60,000 to Scannapieco between 2002 and 2003.

Spalliero admitted that he made those bribe payments to Scannapieco because he sought to have the airport closed and rezoned to allow for the construction of agerestricted residential units, and wanted Scannapieco to support that proposal. Spalliero admitted that had Marlboro

officials approved his proposal

for the airport

property, he would have

made more than $2.5

million in profit from

the development.

The plan for age-restricted

housing at and

around the Marlboro Airport

property unraveled and

no housing has been built on the properties that were targeted for development.

Spalliero also pleaded guilty to conspiring with Scannapieco to defraud the IRS. Specifically, Spalliero admitted that he and Scannapieco agreed that Scannapieco would hide the bribe payments from the IRS and other government authorities, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Spalliero admitted that he routinely counseled Scannapieco on ways that Scannapieco should hide the bribe payments, such as telling Scannapieco not to buy lavish items, not to leave large tips in restaurants, and not to leave cash inside of his house.

Spalliero also admitted that he offered to make some of the bribe payments by writing checks to Scannapieco in the names of third parties. Spalliero also admitted that he instructed Scannapieco on how Scannapieco could bury the cash underground without it rotting.

To further the conspiracy, Scannapieco filed false federal income tax returns and false financial disclosure statements with the state of New Jersey, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

In April 2005, Scannapieco pleaded guilty in federal court to taking bribes from Spalliero for, among other things, the Marlboro Airport redevelopment proposal, as well as federal income tax evasion. Scannapieco is awaiting sentencing.

On each of the bribery counts, Spalliero faces a maximum statutory sentence of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The tax evasion conspiracy count carries a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $100,000 fine.