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Men Named in Ritacco Conspiracy Awaiting Sentencing

Several plead guilty but have no court date; one contractor was ordered to pay $20,000.

 

A series of intermediaries allegedly associated with the kickback schemes of former superintendent Michael Ritacco have plead guilty but still await sentencing.

The former Toms River Regional Superintendent pleaded guity April 5 to two of the 27 charges he was facing, and admitted his role in years of corruption at the school district, where as much as $2.5 million in bribes were allegedly passed between Ritacco, insurance brokers and intermediaries.

He pleaded guilty to mail fraud and conspiracy to impede the IRS. Ritacco could face 11 to 14 years jail time, according to sentencing guidelines. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joel A. Pisano at a 10 a.m. Sept. 14 in Trenton federal court.

But more than one of the co-conspirators and intermediaries are still awaiting sentencing for guilty pleas, months later, and have no sentencing date currently scheduled.

Former Insurance Broker Francis X. Gartland

Ritacco was indicted alongside former district insurance broker Francis X. Gartland, who pleaded guilty to several charges in that indictment days before Ritacco.

Gartland, 70, pleaded guilty to charges of mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and perjury.

Gartland was originally scheduled to be sentenced July 9. In June, the sentencing date was rescheduled, and then also postponed without another date named for sentencing.

On April 2, Gartland plead guilty to four charges: mail fraud, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and perjury in the Ritacco case.

Gartland admitted to his role with co-conspirators who paid $1 million to $2 million in bribes to Ritacco in exchange for inflated insurance contracts from 2002 to 2010, according to U.S. District Attorney Paul Fishman.

Insurance Broker Frank Cotroneo

Frank Cotroneo, an insurance broker, was accused of funneling bribes to Ritacco in exchange for inflated insurance contracts. He was originally indicted on federal charges, one count of bribery and multiple counts of tax evasion.

His guilty plea came days before Ritacco was indicted in fall 2010.

Cotroneo has no sentencing date scheduled. Although court documents show the case is not closed, the last item in the court docket for Cotroneo was an In-Person Status Conference scheduled for September 2011, which was canceled.

Former Athletics Director Frank D'Alonzo

Also named as an intermediary was a former Athletics Director for Toms River Regional Schools, Frank D'Alonzo.

D'Alonzo and Cotroneo admitted their guilt in fall 2010 when they pleaded guilty to one count each of bribery and three counts each of tax evasion.

His guilty plea also came days before Ritacco was indicted in fall 2010.

D'Alonzo has no sentencing date scheduled currently. On July 5, his sentencing was "postponed until further notice," according to the court docket. 

Contractor Carl Amenhauser

One man who was ordered to make thousands of dollars in monthly payments to keep his contract with Toms River Regional was sentenced in August.

The payments, totaling $9,000 a month, continued from October 2002 to June 2007, according to the U.S. District Attorney's Office.

Carl Amenhauser, 66, pleaded guilty March 27 to making false statements to the FBI when questioned about the payments, which occurred in 2002 after then-superintendent Michael J. Ritacco hired Amenhauser to provide workers compensation consulting services to Toms River Regional Schools.

On Aug. 16, Amenhauser was sentenced, ordered to pay a $20,000 fine for the charge, and a $100 court fee. He will be on probation for three years.

About this column: The latest in the ongoing news of Toms River Regional Schools' disgraced former superintendent, Michael Ritacco. Related Topics: Guilty Plea, Sentencing, cotroneo, d'alonzo, gartland, pisano, and ritacco

dave

6:27 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012

instead of making money,now they make license plates! greedy losers!!!

Reply

butch cassidy

10:11 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012

wow shows you where greed gets you

Reply

barbara

10:13 am on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Please tell me we won't have to suffer through political comments until the election. Go work for your candidates rather than put these silly things all over Patch.

Reply
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patched in

8:47 am on Monday, September 17, 2012

Barbara, its called freedom of speech, you silly girl.

sickofcrooks

2:02 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

I guess you can break the law and get away with according to this.

Reply

none of yobusiness

5:09 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

My prediction is Ritacco gets 15 yrs and 5yrs supervised release. The two Franks will get between 3-5 yrs after reductions for cooperation.

Reply

2much2say

6:36 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Yeah really Romey, what he he'll is wrong you folks?
Dumb question you're Romey supporters, that says it all.
Lmao
Keep watching fox news, learn educatcate people. Why dont watch msnbc for an hour.
Weak minded, Romey voters!

Reply

Rem

7:39 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Just tell Ritacco he is going in with the general population and his room mate bubba and just insure him that everything is ok ,just because it is a blue collar crime does not mean your better than the general population and should get a better suite. I am sure the general population would love to have someone as smart as you sitting next to them at the lunch table or in the laundry room folding underwear and sheets. Just think of this as your retirement package and also part of bubbas.

Reply

Dainty

7:43 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

If we are guessing ; ) Im guessing 7 to 10 years for Ritacco.... Which really s*cks for him*

Reply

Rem

7:47 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Lets just see if he has what it takes to fall or will it be postponed again. Might want to see who else is involved.

Reply

i don't get it??

10:08 pm on Thursday, September 13, 2012

Did ya see what happened in Wall Twp...superintendent raided by FBI..another bye for Ritacco???

Reply

dave

7:06 pm on Friday, September 14, 2012

put some pictures of these bums on this site

Reply

The Shark

6:25 pm on Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Frank and Frank should be cooked like franks

Reply

ed galloway

3:43 pm on Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Romney ryan all the way get America back

Reply

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