Giorgianni is on partial house arrest and is barred from visiting the steak shop. He was warned about it once last year.
TRENTON — A simple steak sandwich nearly cost Joseph “JoJo” Giorgianni his three hours per day of freedom from house arrest, as government attorneys yesterday argued that a trip to pick up the food from his namesake steak shop in North Trenton was a bail violation. The to-go order was one of at least four trips Giorgianni made to the steak shop in May, June, and July that were caught by FBI surveillance, said Matt Reilly, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Giorgianni, who is charged along with Trenton Mayor Tony Mack in a public corruption case, is on partial home confinement and forbidden from visiting the shop where authorities say he met with an FBI cooperating witness and directed a prescription pill-dealing ring.
But his attorney Jerome Ballarotto successfully argued that Giorgianni actually drove up and parked about a block and a half away from the restaurant, never staying for longer than five minutes and never leaving his car. His food was brought out to him by the steakshop’s proprietor.
After the hearing yesterday, Giorgianni railed against the FBI agents who spent time conducting surveillance on his client, calling them, “the Federal Bureau of Babysitters, running around, watching JoJo.”
Giorgianni was warned once last year about visiting the steak shop and was admonished again yesterday by Magistrate Judge Douglas Arpert, but Arpert declined to modify his bail conditions, Reilly said.
Arpert also rejected a motion from Ballarotto that Giorgianni be allowed to stay at his second home in Florida until the trial in the corruption case starts in January.
While nothing changed, “He was basically told, ‘This is strike two for you,’” Reilly said.
Giorgianni was also repeatedly admonished by Arpert in court, as the defendant exclaimed several times that Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Moran was a liar.
“Joe was thoroughly exercised,” Ballarotto said. “It was all I could do to keep him quiet.”
According to Ballarotto, Giorgianni parked the block and a half away on Miller Street specifically to avoid going near enough to the Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard steak shop that he would violate the terms of his release.
“It was very frustrating,” Ballarotto said. “He was trying so hard to comply with what Pretrial Services wanted.”
Giorgianni was arrested in September and released on $250,000 unsecured bail. He, Mack and Mack’s brother Ralphiel were indicted last December on charges they allegedly extorted a developer who wanted to build a downtown parking garage while that developer was working undercover for the FBI.
After his arrest, Giorgianni was under around-the-clock home confinement until Ballarotto convinced the court in January to allow his client out of the home for three hours a day.
The Macks were not involved in a separate prescription pill case where Giorgianni is charged with running a narcotics ring, prosecutors said.
At one point, the hearing evolved into a discussion over what the word “vicinity” meant, and Ballarotto said Arpert devised a solution where Giorgianni’s no-go areas will literally be mapped out.
“I think what the judge decided was we needed clearer parameters there,” Ballarotto said. “I think we got those, though, and there should be no further problems.”
Giorgianni already has a GPS unit on his leg that maps where he goes, Ballarotto said. During the January hearing where Giorgianni was allowed the three hours daily reprieve from his house arrest, the judge decided he would have to notify Pretrial Services of where he intended to go.
Both Tony and Ralphiel Mack are free on $150,000 unsecured bail and cannot leave the state without permission. Giorgianni’s higher bail and stricter conditions are connected to the drug charges, Ballarotto said.
The person bringing him the sandwich was his longtime companion and the steak shop’s proprietor Mary Manfredo, whom Giorgianni is allowed to have contact with even though she is a co-defendant in the drug case.
Contact Alex Zdan at azdan@njtimes.com or (609) 989-5705.
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