Man gets five years probation for harassing comic Jim Breuer

A man who pleaded guilty to harassing comedian Jim Breuer, his former neighbor in Chester Township, was sentenced Friday to five years' probation and continued psychiatric counseling, and ordered to have no contact with the comic who told a judge he was harassed "relentlessly."

Defendant Giuseppe Ionfrida, 47 and now living in Mine Hill, pleaded guilty in November before Superior Court Judge James DeMarzo in Morristown to the petty disorderly persons offense of harassment and a disorderly persons offense of contempt of court by violating a previous no-contact order that barred him from any interaction with Breuer.

For technical reasons, the contempt charge was changed Friday to a disorderly persons offense of obstruction of the administration of law but the change did not alter the facts of the guilty plea that Ionfrida entered in November. The sentence orders Ionfrida to serve five years on probation, continue counseling with a psychiatrist and possess no weapons while on probation. Ionfrida previously completed an anger management program in connection with a domestic violence episode.

A visibly agitated Breuer gave a lengthy, dramatic victim-impact statement to DeMarzo on Friday, during which he said that Ionfrida had followed his wife and daughter, called the FBI on him, made sexual innuendos about his three young daughters and boasted of his guns and the "guys" he could send after Breuer.

"His harassment was relentless and I feared him because he always brought up his guns," Breuer said, and then mimicked Ionfrida.

"My guns, my guys. You mess with my guns, my guys are gonna get you,'" Breuer mimicked.

He told the judge that he had been friendly with Ionfrida and his family in Chester Township but then Ionfrida's behavior turned frightening when his — Ionfrida's — marriage broke up. Breuer contended that Ionfrida even called the police to claim he had kidnapped Ionfrida's children. He said he tried several times to have a calm conversation with Ionfrida but got nowhere.

"My biggest fault is I lived across the street from this man," Breuer said. "He has no accountability. He started all of this because of his divorce."

"Do you know what it's like to have cops come to your house, knocking at your door at 11 p.m., saying 'We have to make sure you're not kidnapping?' That's not normal behavior," Breuer said.

In November, Ionfrida — who used to own a pizzeria and now works at one in Randolph — admitted that he posted disparaging comments on YouTube about Breuer between Nov. 1, 2013 and Dec. 31, 2013. The comments were that Breuer used drugs and it also made references to his young daughters.

Ionfrida also admitted to using an alias and posting additional comments on YouTube in April 2014 along with the comedian's phone number and address, after he had been ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with Breuer or his family.

Ionfrida did not make a statement in court. Defense lawyer Joseph Scura said that Ionfrida, as a businessman, had supported multiple youth sports organizations and had been "an exemplary citizen." Scura contended that Breuer had belittled Ionfrida during sessions on the Opie & Anthony talk radio show by poking fun at Ionfrida's Italian heritage and calling him a "bag of rocks."

"There was provocation here, Judge," Scura said, adding that Ionfrida received crank phone calls and found bags of rocks outside his pizzeria after Breuer's on-air remarks about him.

But Morris County Assistant Prosecutor Melanie Smith said the investigation showed that Ionfrida broke the law and used an alias on the Internet to post harassing remarks about Breuer and his daughters. Smith said that when police spoke to Ionfrida, the defendant stated: "He shamed me and it will never be over."

"Pillars of the community commit crimes," Smith said. "While he may have done a lot of good for his community he did a lot of harm to the victim."

Breuer acknowledged to the judge that he did poke fun on-air at Ionfrida but did so out of concern for his family.

"I went on the radio to expose him," Breuer said. At one point in his statement Breuer got particularly upset and told the judge: "He knows what he's doing. He belongs in jail. This is never going to stop. He's a menace."

The judge called the case "troubling" and said that Ionfrida "acted inappropriately and in frightening ways," particularly when he made sexual references to Breuer's juvenile daughters. The judge said the case went far beyond that of a simple feud.

"It's much deeper than that. There's something really askew with the defendant's reactions," DeMarzo said. "I do know Mr. Ionfrida in this case became unhinged."

Scura, the defense lawyer, had requested that Ionfrida be permitted to go hunting with a friend and use that friend's firearms. But the judge refused, saying it would not be a hardship for Ionfrida to go without hunting while on probation and any possession of a firearm could potentially lead to more trouble.

"You need to put this behind you," DeMarzo told Ionfrida. "And the victim needs to try to cope with this and put this behind him."

Breuer is a stand-up comedian and a former cast member of Saturday Night Live who acted in the 1998 cult "stoner comedy" called "Half Baked."

When Breuer learned of the first Internet postings about him, he contacted Chester Township police, who discovered the poster's user name was registered to Ionfrida's pizzeria. Breuer then received a package of condoms in the mail that allegedly were mailed from a location near the pizzeria.

According to authorities, Ionfrida then falsely reported to police that Breuer left him a note that warned Ionfrida "to knock it off" or he would be killed. Police allege the note was written by Ionfrida himself, who misspelled Breuer's name in its content.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.