Thomas Bertoli, a 65-year-old political operative associated with Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, was sentenced to three years of probation with one year of home detention with location monitoring, with exceptions for employment, legal, medical, and other essential purposes.
A political operative in Hudson County and beyond, Bertoli boasts a resume of political figures he’d worked for over the years including Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop, Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, North Bergen Mayor Nicholas Sacco, U.S. Senator Robert Menendez, U.S. Senator Cory Booker and Hoboken Council President Mike Russo.
Bertoli was also ordered to pay $1,171,494 in restitution after pleading guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Brian R. Martinotti to one count of an indictment charging him with corrupt interference with the administration of the Internal Revenue laws.
According to documents filed in the case and statements made in court, Bertoli operated three businesses – The Doormen Inc., City Street Associates LLC aka CSA LLC, and Urban Logistics LLC – and obtained payments from clients for services provided, including expediting services on real estate development and construction projects in Jersey City, New Jersey, and political consulting services in New Jersey.
Bertoli had not filed tax returns for calendar years 2009 to 2013, despite earning income during that period and owing a total of $195,889 in taxes for those calendar years. He falsely claimed to be employed as a construction worker at a construction company to conceal the existence of Urban Logistics and the income that he earned from his operation of Urban Logistics.
After an interview with an IRS collections officer in June 2014, Bertoli was aware of certain actions taken by the IRS to collect taxes that he owed, including applying levies and requiring him to make an estimated tax payment for calendar 2014. Despite this, he continued to purposefully conceal the existence of Urban Logistics and that he was earning substantial income from his operation of Urban Logistics. By doing so, he acted knowingly and corruptly, with the purpose of obtaining an unlawful benefit for himself by obstructing and impeding the collections activity of the IRS.
The charge of corrupt interference with the administration of the Internal Revenue laws carries a maximum potential penalty of three years in prison and a maximum $250,000 fine. The parties’ plea agreement provides that Bertoli will be sentenced to up to 18 months in prison and make full restitution of $1.17 million to the IRS for unpaid taxes for calendar years 2009 to 2016. Sentencing was imposed on March 30, 2023.
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