Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor of New Jersey, has pledged to crack down on crime if elected. However, his donor list raises serious questions, featuring a rogues’ gallery of alleged mobsters and fraudsters.
Arguably, Ciattarelli’s most infamous contributor is Louis Civello, Jr., the son of reported La Cosa Nostra member “Louie the Leg-Breaker.” Civello owns a used car lot in Bridgeton that was named in a 2015 investigation into corruption at the state Motor Vehicle Commission. It was alleged that the lot was a front for tax evasion and money laundering, and that Civello’s father was once on the lot’s payroll. Additionally, it was discovered that Civello shared a bank account with a convicted felon with mob ties — a fact he did not deny. While state officials believe Civello is linked to organized crime, he has never been criminally charged. He donated $5,800 to Ciattarelli in June, the maximum amount allowed under state law.
Ciattarelli also received $5,800 from Joseph J. Fafone, who, like Civello, is the son of an alleged mobster, Joseph P. “Boca Joe” Fafone. Both Fafone and his father were arrested in 2002 for running an illegal sports betting website. Joseph J. Fafone was put on probation, while his father served two years in prison. Federal prosecutors alleged that both men were associates of the Gambino crime family in New York. They were prosecuted again in 2009 for operating another illegal gambling site. Charges against Boca Joe were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea from the younger Fafone, who was forced to pay about $2 million in fines. Fafone also contributed $4,900 to Ciattarelli’s failed 2021 governor campaign.
Disgraced Newark police captain Anthony Buono is another contributor to Ciattarelli. In 2009, Buono and another officer were arrested on theft and conspiracy charges after they were caught illegally accessing an insurance fraud database and selling its private information to third parties. Buono was sentenced to two years’ probation.
Another felon supporting Ciattarelli is Richard Costabile, former proprietor of Ironbound Floor Covering Inc. In 2006, Costabile pleaded guilty to bribing a Paterson school official with $6,000 in free flooring in exchange for contracts in the school district. He was sentenced to two years probation and ordered to pay a $2,000 fine.
Two additional donors have been accused of health care fraud. Dr. Richard Lipsky of Westwood was a principal investor in Silver Lake Hospital in Newark, which provides long-term care. Last year, Lipsky was forced to pay $12 million to settle claims that the hospital knowingly overbilled Medicare so investors could pocket the proceeds.
William G. Burris was named in a state comptroller investigation alleging that four health care facilities he invested in were involved in a similar scheme. These facilities are at risk of losing Medicaid funding if Burris and other backers don’t divest. This matter is ongoing.
White collar criminals have also boosted Ciattarelli. Jeffrery Citron of Hobe Beach, Florida, gave $5,800 last year. Citron is best known as the former CEO of Vonage. In 2003, when he was a broker at the firm Heartland Securities Corp, Citron was ordered to pay the SEC $22.5 million in fines to settle securities fraud charges — one of the largest regulatory penalties in history at the time.
Citron’s wife also donated $5,800 to Ciattarelli. Another donor, Connecticut resident Robert O. Carr, was ordered to pay $250,000 in SEC fines for insider trading.
While most polls show Ciattarelli trailing his Democratic opponent, Representative Mikie Sherrill, the Republican National Committee has invested heavily in the race. This year’s contest is the most expensive governor’s race in New Jersey history.
Election Day is November 4.
https://www.nationalmemo.com/gop-organized-crime