Ocean County GOP Chairman George Gilmore has March 29 trial date on federal tax charges

TRENTON - Ocean County Republican Chairman George R. Gilmore is scheduled to go to trial on March 29 after pleading not guilty to federal tax charges earlier this month.

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

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Gilmore made a first appearance in federal court in Trenton on Jan. 18, where he entered a not guilty plea before U.S. District Court Judge Anne E. Thompson, according to court documents. His bail was set at $250,000.

Gilmore's lawyer, Kevin Marino, said the county chairman has a "hoarding disorder" that the U.S. Attorney's Office was aware of before it sought an indictment. Learn more about the Gilmore indictment in the video above this story.

The Toms River resident was 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.

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

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The indictment also alleges 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, according to the indictment.

The charges come more than two years after Gilmore's lawyer, Chatham-based attorney Marino, acknowledged in an Asbury Park Press story that Gilmore was under federal investigation because of his income taxes.

"After serving grand jury subpoenas seeking evidence of political corruption on every town with which Mr. Gilmore conducts business — literally for years — the United States Attorney’s Office could manage only this lame, ersatz tax case," Marino said Jan. 10.

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He said he looks forward to Gilmore's "full vindication" at trial.

Gilmore, one of the most powerful Republicans in the state, also serves as chairman of the Ocean County Board of Elections.

He has been Ocean County's GOP chairman since 1996, and has served on the election board since 1995. Gilmore is also a partner in a major lobbying firm, 1868 Public Affairs, and was general counsel to the South Jersey Transportation Authority for eight years.

The Gilmore & Monahan law firm, which Gilmore owns with Thomas E. Monahan, 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 Township, Plumsted and Seaside Heights.

Gilmore has said he has no intention of resigning from either the county chairman's position or his post on the Election Board. So far, no municipal official has expressed plans to replace the Gilmore & Monahan firm.

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