Home Newark Press Releases 2010 East Brunswick, New Jersey Man Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting a Debtor to Collect an Illegal Loan
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East Brunswick, New Jersey Man Sentenced to Prison for Assaulting a Debtor to Collect an Illegal Loan

U.S. Attorney’s Office December 06, 2010
  • District of New Jersey (973) 645-2888

TRENTON, NJ—Anthony Cariello of East Brunswick, N.J., was sentenced today to 26 months in prison on an extortion conspiracy charge stemming from his assault of a debtor to collect an illegal loan, United States Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Cariello, 33, previously pleaded guilty before United States District Judge Anne E. Thompson to an Information charging him with conspiracy to collect an extension of credit through extortionate means. Judge Thompson also imposed the sentence today in Trenton federal court.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In early 2006, Cariello made illegal, high-interest loans to various debtors in Staten Island, N.Y., and elsewhere. In March 2006, Cariello, James LaForte Jr., and others traveled from Staten Island to Monmouth County, N.J., to collect re-payment of an illegal loan Cariello had given to a person identified in the Information as the “Victim.”

After finding the Victim, Cariello, LaForte, and their co-conspirators confronted the Victim near a delicatessen in Monmouth County and demanded repayment on the loan. After the Victim refused, Cariello assaulted the debtor, causing him to fall. Cariello and LaForte then kicked the Victim as he lay on the ground. After the assault, the Victim gave Cariello approximately $900 in cash and made another cash payment of approximately $1,200 later that month.

In addition to the prison term, Judge Thompson sentenced Cariello to two years of supervised release and ordered him to pay a $1,000 fine.

On April 26, 2010, Judge Thompson sentenced LaForte to three years in prison for his role in this offense, as well as a loansharking conspiracy and arson conspiracy unrelated to the charge on which Cariello was sentenced.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael B. Ward, with the investigation leading to today’s sentence.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Moscato of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Organized Crime/Gangs Unit in Newark.

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