TOMS RIVER – It’s been more than a month but there’s no new date on when the former Republican county chairman’s trial will resume after he was supposed to get a psychiatric evaluation.
George Gilmore, of Toms River, had been convicted of three charges related to tax evasion with his law firm, Gilmore & Monahan.
On June 24, a “psychiatric or psychological evaluation” was to be done to determine “how and to what degree, if any, the mental condition of the defendant should impact the sentence” he receives, according to court documents. The sentencing has since been adjourned to a new date which is yet to be determined.
After the charges, Gilmore resigned as chairman of the Ocean County Republican Organization. His attorney, Kevin Marino, has said that he is seeking to overturn the conviction. He had said that Gilmore made unusual purchases instead of paying taxes due to a hoarding disorder, and even retained a psychological expert to testify about it. However, the federal government did not want to hear that testimony.
The Charges
Gilmore was found guilty of one charge of making false statements on a 2015 loan application submitted to Ocean First Bank, and two charges of failing to collect, account for, and pay over payroll taxes withheld from employees for two quarters in 2016.
A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office detailed the charges. As a partner and shareholder at Gilmore & Monahan, he was in control of the law firm’s financials. For tax quarters ending March 31, 2016 and June 30, 2016, the firm withheld tax payments from its employees’ checks, but Gilmore did not pay them in full to the IRS.
Regarding the loan application, he applied for a Uniform Residential Loan Application (URLA) to obtain refinancing of a mortgage loan for $1.5 million with a “cash out” provision that provided Gilmore would obtain cash from the loan on Nov. 21, 2014. On Jan. 22, 2015, he updated the application, failing to disclose outstanding 2013 tax liabilities and personal loans he got from other people. He had received $572,000 from the cash out portion of the loan.
The jury was not able to reach a decision on the charge of tax evasion for years 2013, 2014, and 2015, the court spokesman said. He was acquitted of two charges of filing false tax returns for calendar years 2013 and 2014.
The two counts of failing to collect, account for, and pay over payroll taxes each carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison, and a $250,000 fine, or twice the gross gain or loss from the offense. The count of loan application fraud carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
He had been accused of evading more than $1 million in taxes. Meanwhile, he had been spending a great deal on home remodeling and lavish decorations, reportedly such things as a mammoth tusk and a statue of George Washington.
The trial had begun April 1, 2019, before U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson in Trenton federal court.
