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Former Sayreville Democratic Party Leader, Family Members Indicted: Prosecutor

Thomas V. Pollando, the former Sayreville Borough Democratic Chairman, has been indicted along with his son and daughter-in-law, authorities said.

Tom Pollando

Tom Pollando

Photo Credit: Tom Pollando Facebook photo

One of the charges alleges the ex-chairman, who is a former employee with the New Jersey Turnpike Authority, took money in exchange for swaying a criminal case, they said. 

Over the course of an investigation spanning weeks in July and August 2022, detectives from the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office conducted electronic surveillance of a business in Sayreville. 

Detectives allegedly observed Pollando accept thousands of dollars in cash and heard him claiming that he would attempt to use his political clout to influence an ongoing criminal case, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone alongside Sayreville Police Chief Daniel Plumacker.

Further investigation into Pollando revealed that he directed another candidate’s campaign funds for Sayreville Borough Council to be used to pay for personal expenditures and he also directed that election records be falsified to cover up that payment, Ciccone said.

A Middlesex County Grand Jury returned a fourteen-count indictment on Thursday, March 30 charging Thomas V. Pollando, 73, David Pollando, 42, and Lizmarie Pollando, 29, all of Sayreville, with various offenses, Ciccone said.

Thomas Pollando was charged with three counts of bribery, acceptance of an unlawful benefit by a public official, hindering his own apprehension, theft by deception, falsifying public records, official misconduct and pattern of official misconduct, the prosecutor said.

David Pollando was charged with conspiracy, witness tampering, retaliation against a witness and terroristic threats, she said.

Lizmarie Pollando was charged with conspiracy and hindering the apprehension of another, she said.

The counts against David and Lizmarie Pollando stem from an encounter in November 2022 that occurred in Old Bridge, where it is alleged that David Pollando threatened a witness, Ciccone said.

The investigation further revealed that Lizmarie Pollando alerted her husband to the witnesses’ location and lied to police when questioned about the incident, the prosecutor said.

Thomas Pollando also was vice president of the Middlesex County Planning Board, longtime president of the Sayreville Athletic Association and commissioner with the Sayreville Economic & Redevelopment Authority.

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