Former Ocean County GOP Boss Has Yet to Check Into Jail

Ocean County GOP Chairman George R. Gilmore walks with Gov. Chris Christie on the Seaside Heights boardwalk. (Photo: Daniel Nee)

George Gilmore, the former chair of the powerful Ocean County Republican organization who was considered a political kingmaker in New Jersey, was sentenced last week to 366 days in federal custody. But he has yet to set foot in a jail cell.

Gilmore was convicted on two counts of failing to submit payroll taxes withheld from employees of his prestigious law firm to the IRS and one count of making false statements on a bank loan application submitted to OceanFirst Bank. In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Court Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced Gilmore to three years of supervised release.

Gilmore, however, was not brought to a federal detention center following sentencing, the U.S. Attorney’s office for New Jersey confirmed to Shorebeat on Thursday.

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Matthew Reilly, a spokesman for the office, forwarded a full copy of the sentencing order to a reporter. Under Thompson’s ruling, Gilmore must “voluntarily surrender to the institution designated by the Bureau of Prisons for service of sentence not before April 1, 2020.”

In essence, even if Gilmore wanted to begin his sentence early, he would not be able to do so.

It is unknown where Gilmore will serve his time. Former Toms River Regional schools superintendent Michael J. Ritacco is serving his sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, Cumberland County. Fairton is a medium-security United States federal prison for male inmates with an adjacent prison camp for low-risk inmates. He is due to be released in 2022. Joseph C. Scarpelli, the former Brick mayor, served time for bribery and extortion at a minimum-security facility at the Fort Dix portion of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst.