Judge dismisses gambling indictment against members of New Jersey social club

Thursday, April 13, 2000 | 10:02 a.m.

Charges remain pending against the Baron Athletic Association, an all-male group in Hamilton, said its lawyer, Kevin M. Hart.

State Superior Court Judge Charles A. Delehey found that a state deputy attorney general gave evasive answers and broke promises to the grand jury hearing evidence against Baron and its members.

"He repeatedly sidestepped the grand jury's repeated inquiries concerning the involvement of law enforcement officers and politically connected persons," Delehey wrote in his 25-page opinion.

Delehey did not find, however, that the indictment in January 1999 against the individuals represented selective prosecution.

The judge said that while grand juries have the power to investigate, it "depends largely on the prosecutor's office to secure the evidence or witnesses it requires."

The prosecutor's responses "portray a consistent pattern of deception" and "taken together they present a mosaic of clear intent to deceive the grand jury into returning these indictments."

The judge noted that although the grand jury's term has been extended five times since the indictment was returned, it has heard no further evidence.

The attorney general's office will appeal the ruling, office spokesman Chuck Davis said. "We think he erred with respect to prosecutorial misconduct."

Davis said the investigation was continuing, but that he was not permitted to say whether the grand jury will hear more evidence.

The deputy attorney general who presented the case to the grand jury, Samuel A. Reale Jr., did not immediately return a call seeking comment.

Hart, who represents the club, had filed the motion to dismiss the indictment. The remaining charges against the club, including environmental violations and money laundering, carry monetary penalties that could affect the entire membership, he said.

"I'm very pleased with what happened here because these 13 defendants are people who never had a criminal record. Some are grandfathers and served their country in the military," Hart said. "For the last 13 months, these people have been stigmatized as racketeers. To some extent, this decision removes that stigma and restores their dignity."

The state charged that Baron generated at least $6.6 million in illegal gambling income between 1981 and 1998, and sold 294,049 illegal lottery tickets between 1984 and 1989 alone.

State Police raided the club in January 1998 after receiving a tip and seized 22 slot machines and illegal video poker games, several gambling tables and evidence of an unlawful lottery and unlicensed tavern.

Club officials had wired their "casino" with a video surveillance system, prompting the State Police superintendent at the time, Col. Carl Williams, a 35-year trooper, to call it "the most sophisticated operation that I have ever seen."