Crime & Safety

Township Man Pleads Guilty In Shakedown Scheme

Sentencing scheduled for early next year

A Township man was among two who today pleaded guilty in connection with a probe into an extortion scheme involving dock workers at the Port of New York and New Jersey, according to a release from the Attorney General's Office.

Joseph Queli, 65, of Concorde Drive in Wall, and Nicholas Bergamotto, 64, of Newark, pleaded guilty today before Superior Court Judge Anthony J. Mellaci Jr. in Monmouth County.  , reported on Wall Patch earlier this year.

Queli pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree conspiracy to commit
criminal usury and money laundering, and a second count of third-degree
filing false tax returns, the release says.

Under the plea agreement, the state will recommend that he be sentenced to seven years in state prison.  Queli must forfeit $24,260 seized in the investigation.  In pleading guilty, Queli admitted that he made loans at usurious interest rates in excess of 50 percent per year, according to the release.

Find out what's happening in Wallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The investigation revealed that Queli made usurious loans, which is commonly known as loansharking, to members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, and that he or Bergamotto, acting on his behalf, would demand weekly payments from the union members, according to the release.

Bergamotto pleaded guilty today to a charge of third-degree money
laundering.  The state will recommend that he be sentenced to a term of
probation.  In pleading guilty, Bergamotto admitted that he collected
payments on the usurious loans made by Queli and delivered the money to
him, the release says.

Queli’s wife, Regina Queli, 62, was indicted with him for allegedly handling criminal proceeds and failing to report them on tax returns. The state has agreed not to take a position regarding her application to the court for Pre-Trial Intervention.

Judge Mellaci scheduled sentencing for the two men for Jan. 27, 2012.

Supervising Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades, Chief of the Division of Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, and Deputy Attorney General Erin Callahan are prosecuting the case and took the guilty pleas Friday.

Find out what's happening in Wallwith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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