SECAUCUS – In a hearing today before Hudson County Superior Court Judge Kevin Callahan, former Secaucus Tax Collector Alan Bartolozzi rejected a plea offer in an alleged union theft case pending against him, according to Assistant County Prosecutor Leo Hernandez.
A trial is now set to begin on Sept. 28 and is expected to last about one week, according to Hernandez.
Prosecutors allege that Bartolozzi, who served in a volunteer capacity as treasurer of the Secaucus Public Employees’ Association, stole $4,150 from the union. A grand jury indicted him of these charges on Jan. 19.
He has since been removed from the post. He has pleaded not guilty.
Bartolozzi also faces other serious charges. Last year he was charged with two counts of theft in the second degree for allegedly stealing thousands of dollars from the Secaucus Tax Office. Last month, an independent audit ordered by the Town Council revealed that $777,725 is missing from tax office coffers. Bartolozzi is also facing one count of cocaine possession in the third degree after officials allegedly found remnants of the drug in his desk. Bartolozzi has pleaded not guilty to those charges as well.
Hernandez said today that the alleged tax office theft case “is pending presentation to the grand jury.”
The drug charges were presented to a grand jury, but the assistant prosecutor would not state whether or not an indictment was handed down in that matter. – E. Assata Wright