Former Niagara Falls Mayor Pleads Guilty to Swindling IBEW Fund
Vincenzo Anello, the former Niagara Falls mayor charged with falsifying documents to an International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 237 Pension Fund in order to receive payment, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court Thursday.
Anello, who was first elected in 2003, admitted in his Sept. 2 plea agreement that he improperly collected pension fund benefits when his mayoral term ended in 2007.
According to court documents, United States Attorney for the Western District of New York William Hochul said that Anello began performing electrical work for a local businessman, and exceeded the limit in which the union permits retired members to work. The limitations included a 40-hour per month allotment, however, in some instances he exceed 40 hours per week, Hochul said.
"One who holds a position of public trust must tell the truth. In this case, the defendant lied to his union brothers and defrauded a fund which serves those who no longer work,” Hochul said in the Thursday announcement. "Given the commitment of jail time and substantial restitution, this case should serve as a warning to any other public official in the future.”
Anello could possibly serve a prison term of at least 10 months to 16 months, and pay up to $120,000 in restitution to the pension fund. U.S. District Court Judge William Skretny scheduled the Niagara Falls resident’s sentencing for Dec. 20.
Also listed in the plea agreement was Anello’s admittance to charges that he received a $40,000 in secret payments while he was running for the City seat, which later panned out to an awarded lease for a pedestrian mall.
Previously, in the initial June 6 complaint filing, Hochul charged Anello “with stealing and converting to his own use monies from an employee pension fund and making false statements about the number of hours he worked as an electrician.”
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