JoJo Giorgianni pleads not guilty to drug dealing charges separate from Trenton mayor corruption case

Giorgianni, 63, is charged with using JoJo's Steak House in Trenton as a 'clearing house' for oxycodone sales

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TRENTON -- Joseph "JoJo" Giorigianni and two accused accomplices pleaded not guilty today in federal court to operating a prescription pill distribution ring out of JoJo's Steak House in Trenton.

The oxycodone distribution charges are being prosecuted separately from the federal corruption case against Giorgianni, Trenton Mayor Tony Mack and Ralphiel Mack, the mayor's brother.

That trio is accused of accepting $119,000 in bribes in an FBI sting centered around a phoney parking garage project in Trenton. Lemuel Blackburn, a key witness in that case who orchestrated the deal for the FBI and recorded the conversation, died yesterday at the age of 75.

"Anytime a witness is absent, it changes the dynamics of the case," Giorgianni's attorney Jerome Ballarotto said. "It just does."

While the corruption and prescription drug cases are being pursued separately in court, the FBI made the arrests simultaneously in September. In addition to Giorgianni, eight others were charged in the alleged drug distribution ring.

Five of the co-defendants have reached agreements with federal authorities to plead guilty in the case. Four of them have appeared before a judge to make the plea deal's official, including Mark Bethea, who was in court today.

Giorgianni, 63, is charged with using JoJo's Steak House in Trenton as a “clearing house” for prescription drugs. He was indicted last week along with his longtime girlfriend Mary Manfredo, 65, of Lawrence, and Anthony DiMatteo, 31, of Trenton.

Manfredo ran the steak shop and managed the drug inventory, authorities said. Manfredo and DiMatteo along with Giorgianni pleaded not guilty on all counts in federal court today.

Giorgianni also is charged with illegal weapons possession.

Former city employee Charles Hall III has also pleaded guilty to drug distribution charges in federal court, identifying Giorgianni as the ringleader of the drug scheme. He was not charged before his plea and has been identified as an FBI witness in the case.