Hamilton resident Anthony DiMatteo admitted in court Tuesday that he was involved in a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone based at JoJo's Steak House.
By Alex Zdan and Jenna Pizzi
TRENTON — The final defendant in the FBI’s wide-ranging investigation into former Trenton Mayor Tony Mack and his cohorts has pleaded guilty.
Hamilton resident Anthony DiMatteo admitted in court Tuesday that he was involved in a conspiracy to distribute oxycodone based at JoJo’s Steak House, and operated under the control of Mack’s friend and campaign supporter, Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni.
DiMatteo, 32, faces up to 20 years in prison when he is sentenced on June 24. He had been indicted on three counts, but pleaded guilty to just one under the terms of the agreement.
“If I plead guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, all other charges will be dismissed,” DiMatteo wrote in his own hand on the plea application. DiMatteo’s attorney Robert Plaza did not immediately return a call left with his office today.
DiMatteo was one of nine people, including Giorgianni and his longtime companion Mary Manfredo, linked to the ring selling prescription painkillers. He was arrested along with Mack, Mack’s brother Ralphiel and Giorgianni on Sept. 10, 2012. The FBI said DiMatteo obtained 7,600 pills that were later sold between May 2011 and May 2012.
Manfredo and Giorgianni pleaded guilty in the drug case last December. Five others admitted their involvement in the conspiracy where individuals would get a prescription from a doctor, get it filled and drop off the pills to the steak shop, where they would then be redistributed and sold.
Though the drug scheme involved Giorgianni, who was indicted in a corruption sting along with the former mayor and eventually pleaded guilty, the case was treated separately and prosecutors consistently said the Mack brothers, who were convicted on corruption charges Feb. 7, were not involved. The FBI discovered the pill-peddling scheme during its investigation of Mack.
In the federal indictment handed up last March, prosecutors said DiMatteo introduced city employee Charles Hall III to the idea of obtaining painkillers from a North Jersey doctor. Hall sent two female acquaintances to the unnamed physician, where they fraudulently obtained pills for Hall to sell in exchange for cash or a small number of the painkillers.
DiMatteo’s role in the drug ring diminshed after late 2011, when Giorgianni and Hall saw their proceeds from pill sales decrease and lost trust in DiMatteo, according to the indictment. Giorgianni and Hall then switched to Giuseppe Scordato for the majority of the pill distribution.
In the months before his guilty plea, DiMatteo failed multiple drug tests and spent a month in jail before being released to a treatment program, according to court documents. His father Ralph, who also was arrested by the FBI and accused of buying painkillers, died last October before he could reach a trial date or plead.
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
Contact Jenna Pizzi at jpizzi@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5717.
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