New Jersey man sentenced to 33 months in prison for tax evasion

NEWARK, N.J. — A former vice president at a New Jersey traffic safety equipment business was sentenced in federal court Tuesday to 33 months in prison after being convicted of tax evasion for using more than $2 million of his business’ finances for personal use.

This sentencing resulted from an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS)-Criminal Division.

Anthony R. Pecoraro, 52, of Colts Neck, New Jersey, previously pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion.

According to court documents, Pecoraro worked in 2008 and 2009 at Traffic Safety Service LLC, of South Plainfield, New Jersey, which provided traffic safety equipment and other traffic related services to local and state municipalities and private businesses. In connection with his position as a vice president, he had access to the company’s business account.

During his guilty plea proceeding, Pecoraro admitted he wrote checks for unauthorized cash withdrawals for a total of approximately $2,126,200 between June 2008 and December 2009, which he took for personal use. Pecoraro acknowledged he failed to report this money as taxable income for calendar years 2008 and 2009 in the amounts of $563,800 and $1,562,400, respectively, and that if he had reported the additional cash on his income tax returns he would have owed the government approximately $733,970.

In addition to the prison term, Pecocaro was sentenced to serve three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $1,241,604.91in restitution to the IRS.