Toms River Mayoral Hopefuls: Gilmore Should Leave Ocean GOP Chair

TOMS RIVER, NJ — The conviction Wednesday of Toms River attorney George Gilmore on three charges in a federal tax evasion case has prompted calls for him to step down from his post as Ocean County Republican chairman.

Joseph Coronato and Maurice Hill, who are seeking the Republican nomination for mayor in Toms River, both issued statements on Wednesday afternoon urging Gilmore to step out of the post while his legal fight continues. Daniel Rodrick, who also is seeking the mayoral nod, reiterated his criticisms of Gilmore, whose resignation he called for following the attorney's indictment in January.

Kevin H. Marino, Gilmore's defense attorney, said that won't happen.

"There's absolutely no reason for Mr. Gilmore to step down," Marino said by phone Wednesday afternoon. "The jury rejected the heart of the government's case."

Gilmore, 69, was convicted on two counts of failure to pay employees' payroll taxes and one count of submitting a false loan application, but not guilty on two counts of filing false tax returns. The jury could not reach a unanimous verdict on the charge Gilmore evaded income taxes in 2013, 2014, 2015, the U.S. Attorney's office said in a news release. Federal authorities alleged he evaded $1.5 million in income taxes and penalties. Read more: Gilmore Guilty On 3 Counts In $1.5M Tax Evasion Case, Jury Rules

Marino said the jury rejected the two counts of filing false tax returns because it rejected the government's claim that Gilmore should have reported shareholder loans he took from his law firm, Gilmore and Monahan, P.A., as income. Gilmore is an equity partner and shareholder in the firm, and he and his partner, Thomas E. Monahan, serve as the attorneys for multiple public bodies in Ocean County and throughout the state. Among the firm's clients are Berkeley Township, Lacey Township, Little Egg Harbor, Plumsted and Seaside Heights. Gilmore was just named township attorney in Howell in 2019 as well.

In addition to serving as chair of the Ocean County Republican party, Gilmore also is the head of the Ocean County Board of Elections.

"As a former prosecutor, I have the utmost respect for our legal system," Coronato said in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon. "While I am deeply saddened by this news on a personal level and respect his constitutional right to appeal the verdict, I am hopeful George does what is best for the party and steps aside as chairman while he continues his legal fight."

Coronato was the Ocean County prosecutor from April 2013 until October 2018.

Hill, a Toms River councilman who resigned from the Toms River Regular Republican Club in March and launched his own mayoral campaign for the Republican nomination, called for Gilmore to give up his post with the Board of Elections as well as his party chairmanship.

"Mr. Gilmore's insistence on holding onto his positions of public trust despite being convicted by a jury of his peers does not serve the best interest of the people of Ocean County and the Republican Party," Hill said. "While I understand Mr. Gilmore plans to appeal his convictions, I hereby call upon all Republican elected officials in Ocean County and NJ Republican Chairman Doug Steinhart to prevail upon Mr. Gilmore to do the right thing and resign from the positions he currently holds."

Hill, in resigning from the town's Republican club, said it was Gilmore who handpicked Coronato as the club's candidate for mayor and criticized the club's officers over what Hill said was their unwillingness to put the matter to a vote of the entire club.

Rodrick, who also started a separate campaign for the Republican mayoral nomination, reiterated his call for Gilmore to give up his post as county GOP chair, but said Coronato should rescind his candidacy as well.

"The chairman (Gilmore) should step down," Rodrick said, "and so should Joe Coronato, his handpicked canddate for mayor. Coronato's work with developers and his relationship with the chairman will make him unelectable in November."

• Read more: GOP Picks Coronato To Run For Toms River Mayor: Report
• Hill, Rodrick Challenge Coronato In Toms River GOP Mayor Primary

Marino, who said Gilmore would be appealing the convictions, brushed off the calls for Gilmore to step down as coming from "his political foes."

"His political foes can make whatever they want of the verdict," Marino said. "The facts are the jury rejected the government's most serious charges."

As for the charge the jury failed to reach a verdict on, that Gilmore evaded paying his income taxes for calendar years 2013, 2014, and 2015, Marino said that charge hinged on the issue of the shareholder loans, which were the basis for the two charges that Gilmore had filed false returns — the charges the jury acquitted Gilmore on. Two other pieces of evidence involved checks returned for insufficient funds and failure to pay the taxes, Marino said, but he said the trial record includes evidence that Gilmore offered $400,000 from a deferred compensation account to settle the unpaid bill.

Marino said he believes the charges Gilmore was convicted on will be overturned.

"There's no basis for those charges in the evidence," he said, referring to the two counts of failing to turn over payroll taxes.

"The IRS intentionally created the nonpayment of those taxes for two months," Marino said.

In the case of the bank loan, Marino said, "a bank witness who had previously told the government that he knew Mr. Gilmore was taking a loan because Mr. Gilmore owed back taxes mysteriously didn't remember that."

Marino said the court record and documents will support the convictions being thrown out.

"The judge (U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson) has seen all the documents, she knows," he said.

"He's not stepping down. There's no reason for it," Marino reiterated.

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