Over the years, people close to Ocean County Republican Chairman George R. Gilmore have thought there was something eccentric, a quirk, about his behavior.

He liked to collect stuff. Not just a specific type of fine art or a particular brand of memorabilia. Gilmore liked to collect everything and spend his money on anything, said multiple friends and close political allies, who commented on background as they were not authorized to speak on his behalf.

There was his perplexing collection of vintage full-size soda machines. There was his penchant for purchasing more garden statues for his Toms River home than he had garden.

Such stories went back decades. During the Republican National Convention in San Diego in 1996, when Gilmore and other New Jersey delegation members shopped for ceramic, GOP-themed elephant souvenirs, Gilmore insisted on buying a vendor’s display model — so big it had to be shipped by air freight back to Toms River.

But no one suspected the shrewd and powerful political boss might suffer from a mental illness, as the defense attorney in Gilmore's upcoming trial on federal tax evasion and other charges asserts in court papers.

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Gilmore's Chatham-based attorney, Kevin Marino, filed notice earlier this month that a psychiatrist and author will provide expert testimony on Gilmore's purported "hoarding disorder" at the GOP chairman's trial, which is scheduled to start March 29 in Trenton federal court.

Dr. Steven Simring will testify that Gilmore, one of the most influential GOP leaders in the state, "meets the criteria for hoarding disorder," as described in the fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of the American Psychiatric Association, according to the court documents.

The association recognizes "hoarding disorder" as a behavior in which an individual accumulates a large number of possessions that often fill up or clutter active living areas of the home or workplace to the extent that their intended use is no longer possible, according to the diagnostic manual.

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"The behavior usually has harmful effects — emotional, physical, social, financial and even legal — for the person suffering from the disorder and family members," according to the manual.

But how the disorder, which afflicts an estimated 2 percent to 5 percent of the population, will play as a defense in a tax case like Gilmore's is unclear.

Marino notes federal prosecutors were "unimpressed" with Simring's report on the subject.

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"The hoarding disorder that we have raised, I have made my expert available to them," Marino said to U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson, according to a transcript of Gilmore's first appearance in Trenton federal court. "I have told them that they could interview my expert if they wish to do so. They told me that they read the report (prepared by Simring) and they were unimpressed. They believe it does not negative (sic) any element of the offense. I quite disagree with them."

Indictment

Gilmore, 69, was indicted Jan. 10 on six federal tax charges.

The GOP chairman is charged with one count of income tax evasion for the calendar years 2013, 2014 and 2015; two counts of filing false tax returns for calendar years 2013 and 2014; failing to collect, account for, and pay payroll taxes for two quarters in 2016, and making false statements on a 2015 loan application submitted to OceanFirst Bank, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

A federal grand jury alleged that Gilmore spent more than $2.5 million on personal expenses — including antiques, artwork, animal tusks and marble flooring — even though he owed more than $1 million in federal taxes.

His purchases included: $440,000 in antiques, artwork and collectibles; more than $80,000 for model trains; more than $100,000 for Colorado vacations; and over $700,000 for mortgages and related expenses on five different properties he owned.

Spending also included $380,000 for construction and remodeling of his homes, which included an infinity swimming pool, a pool cabana, a slate roof, marble flooring and mahogany and cherry wood fireplace mantels, among other features.

From January 2014 to about December 2016, Gilmore borrowed more than $1.7 million from professional associates, friends and law firm clients, and also obtained more than $572,000 from the cash-out portion of a home mortgage loan that he refinanced, according to the January indictment.

He did not spend any of that money on his IRS debt, according to the indictment.

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If convicted and given the maximum penalty, Gilmore could spend the rest of his life in prison and face hefty fines. The charge of making false statements on a loan application alone includes a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, and a maximum fine of $1 million.

He pleaded not guilty Jan. 18, at his first appearance in federal court before Judge Thompson.

The IRS will consider "any sound reason" for failing to file a tax return or paying taxes when due, according to an explanation of "penalty relief due to reasonable cause" published on the agency's website.

Serious illness is among the "typical situations" the IRS will consider as potential "sound reasons" for failing to pay.

'Hoarding disorder'

Though Marino has not revealed his strategy for Gilmore's defense, he has said that U.S. Attorney's Office was aware of the GOP chairman's "hoarding disorder" before it sought an indictment in the case.

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Michael Benza, a senior instructor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, said Marino will have to prove a direct connection between Gilmore's "mental illness" and the GOP chairman's failure to pay the taxes he admitted he owed.

That could prove difficult, Benza said.

"It has to be very, very clear that the defendant was not in control of what was happening," Benza said. "You have to demonstrate that you had this mental disorder and make it clear that you did this because of this mental disorder....'Yes, I know I owed the money, (but) I didn't pay because my mental disorder prevented me from doing so.' "

Benza said, "the law isn’t really designed to deal with people who have serious mental health problems."

In 2014, 2015 and 2016, Gilmore filed 1040 tax forms on behalf of himself and his wife that indicated he owed the IRS more than $1.1 million in taxes, according to the indictment.

Denise Wirth, a licensed clinical social worker and therapist from Lavallette who has no connection to Gilmore's case, said hoarding can be activated by a trauma or loss.

“For example, a lot of people from my mother’s generation who lost their money in the ‘29 Depression tended to be hoarders,” Wirth said. “My mother had every greeting card given to her for her whole life in boxes in the attic.”

But there are also different degrees and variants to diagnose, Wirth said.

She explained that a person who engaged in a pattern of extravagant spending may have a shopping addiction. However, she noted that the fifth edition Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not include compulsive buying or “oniomania,” as there is still scholarly debate within the psychiatric community as to the nature of these impulsive behaviors.

On the other hand, hoarding is a recognized DSM-5 disorder.

“A hoarding disorder equals difficulty discarding of items, (while a person with a) spending compulsion can’t stop spending,” Wirth said. “Most obsessive-compulsive disorders are generated as a coping mechanism for feeling powerless, not having any control.”

The indictment states that in October 2014, Gilmore sent the IRS a $493,526 check as payment for his 2013 taxes despite having no more than $2,500 in his personal bank account at the time. Gilmore’s check bounced, and he never resubmitted payment in lieu of the bounced check.

Dr. Simring, whose psychiatric practice is based in Tenafly, is an attending psychiatrist at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center and Weill-Cornell Medical Center in New York.

He is also an associate clinical professor of psychiatry at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons, as well as Weill-Cornell Medical College.

He authored a Nov. 30 report to the court that included a summary of his potential testimony, an overview of his experience and qualifications, and the most recent cases in which he's testified as an expert.

Marino said in court documents that he would make Gilmore available to be examined if the government hires its own mental health expert for the case.

No plans to resign

News of Gilmore's January indictment sent shock waves through Ocean County's political establishment; Gilmore has served as party chairman since 1996 and has headed the county Board of Elections since 1995.

So far, though, there has been no public calls for his removal as party leader.

His organization's ability to turn out Republican voters in both local and statewide elections has made him "the most important Republican Party chair in the state," according to Brigid Harrison, a professor of political science and law at Montclair State University.

Gilmore & Monahan, the Toms River law firm in which the GOP leader is a partner, is estimated to make more than $2 million each year from taxpayer-funded legal work in a number of Republican-controlled towns in Ocean County, including Jackson, Lacey, Little Egg Harbor, Plumsted, Berkeley and Seaside Heights.

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Before the indictment, Gilmore even added a town to the firm's portfolio when the new Republican mayor and council in Stafford appointed his firm as their township attorney on New Year’s Day.

Gilmore has said he has no plans to resign as county GOP chair or to leave the election board. So far, his firm has maintained all of its lucrative municipal contracts as county Republican leaders have lobbied to keep local party officials and their elected officeholders loyal to the chairman — at least while he has the presumption of innocence.

Speaking to Judge Thompson last month, Marino expressed confidence that his client would be exonerated. He said Gilmore is eager for the trial to get underway as soon as possible, noting that the investigation into his finances has been going on for 2½ years.

Marino said Gilmore intends to enforce his rights for a speedy trial under the federal Speedy Trial Act of 1974, which requires that a trial commence within 70 days of an indictment or from the date the defendant first appears in court, whichever is later.

He argued that the case should be dismissed if the government was not ready to go to trial in 70 days.

"I don't intend to move to dismiss any of their misbegotten indictment because I intend to either get a judgment or an acquittal at the conclusion of their case or to get an acquittal outright at the conclusion of the trial," Marino told the judge.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jihee Jillian Suh initially argued in court for a delay in setting a trial date, noting that the government had subpoenaed 12,000 electronic files, "and the defendant's going to need some time to review that."

Marino rejected any calls for a delay. Judge Thompson agreed with Marino's request, setting the trial date for March 29.

"This is a cloud that has been over his head for literally years, during which time, they have served subpoenas on every single client that the Gilmore & Monahan firm has," Marino said, according to a transcript of the GOP chairman's first appearance in court. "They have looked high and low for evidence of political corruption."

Marino said that in August 2016, an official from the U.S. Attorney's Office and another from the Internal Revenue Service came to Gilmore's Cranmoor Drive home in Toms River to talk Gilmore "into cooperating in some sort of political corruption investigation."

"Specifically telling him that there are — must be folks in Trenton that you know things about you and you can help yourself and so forth, and so on," Marino said.

Marino did not elaborate further about the government's inquiry into Gilmore's potential cooperation.

Jean Mikle: 732-643-4050; @jeanmikle, jmikle@gannettnj.com

Erik Larsen: 732-682-9359; @Erik_Larsen, elarsen@gannettnj.com