'Sayreville's Tony Soprano': Explosive lawsuit alleges deep political corruption
A former captain in the Sayreville Police Department has sued the borough, alleging his involvement in the case that resulted in bribery and other charges against former Sayreville Democratic Chairman Thomas Pollando led to his being passed over for promotion to police chief last year.
Retired Capt. John "Jack" Fitzsimmons has filed suit in Superior Court against the borough and unnamed others, alleging his rights were violated under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act, that he was the victim of retaliation by engaging in whistleblowing activities because "he disclosed, refused to participate in, and/or objected to, conduct which he reasonably believed was in violation of law and/or public policy, and/or rules or regulations promulgated pursuant to law and/or public policy."
The borough had no comment on the lawsuit which has been assigned to Superior Court Judge Christopher Rafano in New Brunswick.
'Sayreville's Tony Soprano'
Much of the lawsuit centers around Pollando, 73, the former Sayreville Democratic chairman who has been indicted on bribery, official misconduct and other charges.
The lawsuit outlines Pollando's involvement with the borough such as police contract negotiations and Sayreville’s switch to a new police radio system. The suit also outlines Fitzsimmons' role in the intertwined investigations of both Pollando and Club 35.
The lawsuit says Kennedy O'Brien, the former Republican mayor who is running for election this year, referred to Pollando in a June 2023 interview as "Sayreville's Tony Soprano," New Jersey’s fictional mafia boss TV character.
According to the lawsuit, as Democratic chairman Pollando oversaw and directed several day-to-day activities in the borough, and Fitzsimmons recorded Pollando in June 2022 discussing rumors about the borough hiring a police director.
Pollando allegedly said he "controls" the Borough Council and regularly meets with Councilwoman Donna Roberts and Sayreville Republican Chairwoman Karen Bailey-Bebert, who served as the campaign manager for slain Borough Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour.
According to the lawsuit, as evidence of his influence in the borough and police department, Pollando sought to have the police union president, who also served on the Planning Board and was a high-ranking member of the Democratic Party, reelected, as a way to ensure officers received their banked time upon retirement.
The police union president who is friends with Police Chief Daniel Plumacker, however, resigned from all political positions and did not seek reelection as union president after Pollando's arrest, the lawsuit says.
Pollando, according to the lawsuit, also told Fitzsimmons that he knew the owners of Club 35 for 20 years, and that he tried to persuade them to sell their property and had lined up real estate developers. The lawsuit also says that Pollando yelled at firefighters to do their job when a fire broke out at Club 35 in 2020, and he later referred the owners to a car rental business when all their vehicles were seized by law enforcement, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also says Pollando was a catalyst for Club 35 receiving special treatment from the borough, including it continuing to violate zoning and borough codes laws and allowing it to stay open during the COVID pandemic.
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The suit also alleges the club made additions without receiving the proper permits and cut down acres of trees to create an area rented to tractor-trailers to park illegally, which generated $30,000 a month for Club 35.
Pollando apparently asked if he could do anything for Fitzsimmons, but the police captain who left the department on Jan. 1, 2023, responded he doesn't get involved in politics, the lawsuit says.
'Those people are our friends'
According to the lawsuit, since around 2012 Fitzsimmons had directed a narcotics sergeant to investigate Club 35 for illegal activity and political corruption.
Five years later in 2017, Fitzsimmons met with the FBI about Club 35, Pollando and political corruption. The following year Fitzsimmons provided an FBI special agent with information about Pollando, the Sayreville Democratic Party and Pollando's son being hired to install a camera system at police headquarters and other borough locations, as well as provided information about the connection between Pollando and Club 35., according to the lawsuit.
Fitzsimmons also notified the state Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control about Club 35 violations such as storing liquor on the property and being a BYOB establishment without serving food, according to the lawsuit. He directed a detective sergeant to meet with the state Attorney General's Office, while he asked the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office to look into Club 35 and corruption, the lawsuit says.
At Fitzsimmons' direction, the Sayreville Detective Bureau and the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office executed a search warrant and made arrests at Club 35 around May 12, 2021. The prosecutor's office is seeking the forfeiture of more than $3.5 million in assets seized from the club's owners and employees.
The execution of the search warrants and the arrests were met with some backlash. The lawsuit says Plumacker told Fitzsimmons that Councilman Vince Conti called him and said he thought the actions were terrible; a Sayreville police lieutenant told a detective to be careful and stay away from the Club 35 case; and a Sayreville police officer asked a narcotics detective why he was picking on Club 35 when "those people are our friends."
The lawsuit references a $500 check from the election account of Sayreville Council candidate Damon Enriquez that was given to one of the owners of Club 35 as a wedding present. Pollando was indicted on charges related to falsifying the election finance record.
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At Fitzsimmons' direction, according to the lawsuit, a second search warrant was executed by borough detectives and the prosecutor's office at Club 35 and the homes of the owners and their family on Aug. 14, 2022, and several employees were charged with money laundering and promoting prostitution.
A day or two after that raid, Fitzsimmons and the police department were asked to provide the borough with a list of detectives who take home municipal-owned cars, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also mentions Fitzsimmons and the detective bureau's investigation into a municipal court clerk with family ties to the Middlesex County Democratic Organization and the Sayreville Democratic Organization, who was charged last year with stealing money from court operations. The lawsuit alleges Pollando and other Democrats pushed for that court clerk to be hired.
Alleged sham interview for police chief
In late July 2022, then-Police Chief John Zebrowski announced to Plumacker, the current chief, and Capt. Patrick Kiernan that he would be retiring Sept. 1, 2022, and that the acting chief position should go to the senior captain until Civil Service administers a test, according to the lawsuit. Plumacker met with Fitzsimmons a few days later and said he was shocked by Zebrowski's retirement announcement and indicated that the borough did not want to give a test for the chief's position, the lawsuit says.
Sayreville is required under Civil Service rules to give a test if there are three candidates for the chief's position even though the borough can choose any of the candidates regardless of the test results.
After taking some time to consider the idea, Fitzsimmons notified the business administrator he planned to take the promotional test, the lawsuit says.
At the Borough Council's Aug. 15, 2022, meeting, the governing body decided to request resumes and letters of interest as well as schedule interviews for the acting chief position.
Two days later, on Aug. 17, 2022, Pollando was arrested by the prosecutor's office in connection with accepting bribes from Club 35 and using his political clout to influence a criminal case.
On the following day, Lt. David Earla told Fitzsimmons the police union president was campaigning for Plumacker, who had allegedly met with Pollando on a regular basis, to be selected as acting chief, the lawsuit says.
Later that month the prosecutor called the mayor to request the acting chief interviews be postponed due to an ongoing Sayreville criminal investigation, but the borough proceeded with the interviews, the lawsuit says.
"Plumacker had the interview questions prior to the interview," the lawsuit alleges and adds that Councilwoman Mary Novak failed to abstain from voting due to the conflict that her two sons are borough police officers. Kiernan allegedly later told Fitzsimmons the borough had canceled plans for a promotional chief's test.
On Aug. 31, 2022, Zebrowski had a ceremony in the back of police headquarters turning over the command of the department to Plumacker, the newly appointed acting chief, the lawsuit says.
"Shortly after he was passed over for acting chief, (Fitzsimmons) experienced emotional distress" and feared the borough would falsely accuse him of something to get rid of him and prevent him from testing for chief, the lawsuit says.
After being passed over for promotion, Fitzsimmons was diagnosed with disorders related to the incident at work and was placed on medical leave, underwent medical treatment, was unable to return to work and retired from the borough on Jan. 1, 2023, the lawsuit says.
Three months later on March 30, 2023, Pollando, his son and daughter-in-law were charged in a 14-count indictment.
Pollando was indicted on the charges of bribery, acceptance of an unlawful benefit by a public official, official misconduct, falsifying public records and pattern of official misconduct, while his son and daughter-in-law were indicted on conspiracy and witness tampering charges. Pollando, his son and daughter-in-law had a post indictment court appearance earlier this month.
Email: srussell@gannettnj.com
Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.
This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Sayreville NJ political corruption alleged in police lawsuit
