Shuttered Strip Club Owners Plan To Sue Sayreville

SAYREVILLE, NJ — The family that owns a Sayreville strip club is now seeking to sue the town of Sayreville, alleging misconduct by Sayreville Police when five family members were arrested last year.

The gentleman's club is XXXV Gentlemen’ Club (Club 35) on Rt. 35, owned by Doreen Acciardi of Freehold.

Club 35 is temporarily closed, but Acciardi anticipates it will reopen "in the near future," said the family's lawyer, Jeffrey Bronster of Bergen County.

Court papers filed Feb. 27 by the Acciardis allege misconduct by Sayreville Police when all five were arrested on June 9, 2022. As Patch reported at the time, the Acciardi husband and wife, plus their two adult sons and daughter, were charged with money laundering and other crimes connected to the club.

Acciardi, 55, her husband Anthony Acciardi Sr., 58, and their sons, Anthony Acciardi Jr., 29, who lives in Old Bridge, and Stephen Acciardi, of Freehold Township, were all charged by the Middlesex County Prosecutor with first-degree money laundering, second-degree promoting organized street crime and third-degree promoting prostitution.

The Acciardi's daughter, Angela Mancini, 32, who lives in Colts Neck, was charged with first-degree money laundering, plus conspiracy.

All five family members have been indicted and are facing lengthy prison terms if convicted. All five are innocent, said their lawyer.

Several female dancers and one man who worked at the club were also arrested as part of the investigation last June.

Bronster said Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone has been dealing with the family in "a heavy-handed way."

He said the Acciardi family members have been trying to negotiate with the Prosecutor's office, but negotiations "collapsed" in late February. Individual family members are not allowed to cut their own deals, he said: Prosecutor Ciccone will only negotiate with them as a unit; "that is, no member of the family would be allowed to enter into an agreement to resolve the charges unless all of them did."

The family says they were subject to illegal search and seizures by Sayreville Police on June 9. They also say Sayreville Police "intentionally timed their arrest to ensure the longest possible period of incarceration prior to being able to obtain bail." They say Sayreville Police are lying about them in statements to the Middlesex County Prosecutor.

"Petitioners feared the Sayreville Police Department would pressure the Prosecutor’s Office not to make a deal with them at all," wrote Bronster in his notice of tort claim filed in New Jersey Superior Court.

According to MyCentralJersey.com, the Middlesex County Prosecutor is also seeking the forfeiture of more than $3.5 million in assets from the Acciardi family, including two properties, 11 vehicles and $687,902 in gold and silver coins, from the family as well as $651,398.26 from the bank account of a Club 35 dancer that allegedly was earned through prostitution.

The state of New Jersey and Sayreville Police have been investing XXXV Gentlemen’ Club since at least 2021:

In May of that year, state investigators executed a search warrant at the club. Three strip club employees were charged with promoting prostitution at the time.

Also that year, the New Jersey Treasury Department and Division of Alcoholic Beverage Control launched a joint investigation into the club, after allegations the club was illegally selling alcohol.

For Doreen Acciardi, this is her second recent claim against the Sayreville Police Department. She says Sayreville Police Chief Daniel Plumacker tried to have her bail revoked by claiming that she came to Sayreville town hall and caused a disturbance there.

Tapes obtained from town hall show Acciardi did not even come there on the day in question, said her lawyer.

Past Patch reporting on Club 35: Family That Owns Sayreville Strip Club Charged With Money Laundering (June 2022)

NJ Strip Club Was 'Family-Run Prostitution Ring,' Officials Charge (June 2022)

Firefighters Battling Strip Club On Fire In Sayreville (January 2020)