Toms River man sentenced to jail for writing a bad check, again

TOMS RIVER - A Toms River man has been sentenced to 60 days in jail for passing a bad check, the second time in six years that he's faced such charges.

Richard Ciullo, 58, pleaded guilty in April to a charge of third-degree writing bad checks for an amount between $1,000 and less than $75,000.

His guilty plea came in a plea bargain in which a charge of theft by deception was dismissed.

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Superior Court Judge MIchael T. Collins on Friday sentenced him to two years on probation and 60 days in the Ocean County Jail as a condition of probation, to be served on weekends. Collins also ordered Ciullo to make restitution in the amount of $4,100.

In February 2017, according to an affidavit, Ciullo offered Dr. James Pasquariello help to recover money he allegedly lost to a New York body shop owner who had charged him for repairs that were never made.

Ciullo told Pasquariello, who has a Toms River address, that he could help him file the proper documentation with the courts in order to sue body shop owner Thomas Zaino and recover his money. Pasquariello then gave Ciullo approximately $4,100 in cash, the affidavit says.

"In the following months, Ciullo affirmed to Pasquariello that the proceedings were moving forward and that he was likely to recover approximately $30,000 from Zaino if Zaino was not present in court," the affidavit reads. "Following this, Pasquariello was no longer able to get in touch with Ciullo."

By October 2017, Pasquariello hired attorney William Cunningham and was able to contact Ciullo, who issued a check for $3,400 as a partial refund dated Nov. 3, 2017, the affidavit says. But 10 days later, on Nov. 13, the check was returned for "not sufficient funds."

A grand jury subpoena was issued for records relating to Ciullo's bank account.

The records showed that the day Ciullo wrote the check for $3,400, his account had a balance of $55.10. It also showed that between Oct. 23, 2017, the day the account was opened, and Dec. 31, 2017, the account had a high balance of $305.98 and a low balance of negative $3,432.44, the affidavit states.

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It wasn't the first time Cuillo had to answer in a case involving passing bad checks.

He was charged in a 17-count indictment and pleaded guilty on June 22, 2015, to five counts of theft by deception. The following charges were dismissed in the plea bargain: one count of theft of services, six counts of passing bad checks, and five counts of failure to make the required disposition of funds.

Superior Court Judge Linda Baxter sentenced him on Aug. 14, 2015 to two years on probation and 114 days of time already served in the Ocean County Jail. Baxter ordered him to make $10,725.85 in restitution.

Cuillo could not immediately be reached for comment.

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Gustavo Martínez Contreras covers Lakewood. He is a graduate of the University of Texas at El Paso and the Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York. Contact him at gmartinez@gannettnj.com or at 732-643-4061.