Secaucus Tax Collector Alan Bartolozzi has been charged with possession of cocaine in the third degree.
According to Hudson County Prosecutor Edward DeFazio, the drug was allegedly discovered “in Mr. Bartolozzi’s desk or work station drawer” after he was suspended from his job in May. The prosecutor declined to comment on published reports that drug paraphernalia was also discovered.
DeFazio said he did not know how much of the drug was discovered or whether it was in powder or crack cocaine form, but said, “The amount found is consistent with personal use, as opposed to distribution.”
Bartolozzi, who has been suspended without pay from his job pending an investigation into accounting problems in his office, was arrested and charged Monday evening after lab results confirmed the substance. If convicted, he faces a maximum of five years in prison for possession.
This makes the second charge in as many months for Bartolozzi.
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Tax office investigation continues
The theft charge pertains only to the union funds and is not connected to the ongoing investigation of the tax office, which the prosecutor described “as a separate and distinct investigation.”
Bartolozzi has entered a plea of not guilty to the theft charge. Before the drug arrest he had been free on $2,500 bail. Last week, however, Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan increased his bail to $10,000 after Bartolozzi was charged with possession.
“I have some concerns about the circumstances surrounding the discovery [of the cocaine],” said Bartolozzi’s attorney John Lynch. “The drug was allegedly found several days after he was suspended, at a time when he had no access to his desk, but many other people did. Given those circumstances one could easily question how the drug got there and who put it there.”
DeFazio said the cocaine was found by a municipal employee who turned the drug over to Secaucus police, who turned it over to the prosecutor’s office.
Town Administrator David Drumeler declined to say who found the cocaine.
Accounting irregularities set off chain of events
Bartolozzi and the Tax Collector’s Office have been under investigation ever since accounting irregularities were discovered and the office was unable to balance its books.
Since then, Secaucus Chief Financial Officer Margaret Barkala and various auditors have been investigating the reason for the shortfall. A new independent auditor, Francis “Bud” Jones of Nisivoccia & Company, recently joined the investigation.
The initial discovery of problems in the office set off a series of overlapping investigations.
As required by state law, the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs and the Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office were notified of the accounting problems and DeFazio’s office began its own inquiry into the matter.
Because Bartolozzi had also served as secretary treasurer of the Secaucus Public Employees’ Association, union president Charles Schumacher also took a close look at the union’s books and apparently found an alleged shortfall there as well.
Bartolozzi, who has been Secaucus’ Tax Collector since 1985, had been in charge of the union’s finances for 17 years. The union represents 45 municipal workers, including department heads, clerical workers, housing authority employees, clerical supervisors, and supervisors in the Department of Public Works.
Despite published reports to the contrary, DeFazio said that no evidence has been presented to a grand jury and he said last week he does not know if or when a grand jury might be convened in the matter.
Drumeler said an administrative hearing that was originally scheduled for last month has been postponed indefinitely.
E-mail E. Assata Wright at awright@hudsonreporter.com.