Woodbridge Actor Charged in Fake Gun Incident Takes Plea Deal

Woodbridge, NJ - As of 2 p.m. Wednesday, Carlo Bellario was not going to accept the plea deal.

The Toms River-based actor was charged with illegal possession of a handgun while filming a low-budget action movie in Woodbridge in November of last year. He can still recall the events of Nov. 16, 2015 clear as day: The director and producer gave him a fake BB gun to use, and instructed him to aim the gun at a speeding car coming down Ridgedale Avenue. Next thing he knew, terrified neighbors called 911, thinking the gun was real, and the movie set was surrounded by police cars.

Not only did the movie's director and producer lack a permit to film, they also lacked a permit for the prop gun. It was heavy and black, Bellario recalled, and did not have the signature orange tip found on most pellet guns. It was a fake, but even he admits it did look pretty real.

Because the gun was in his hands, Bellario was the only one arrested that day. He was facing up 15 years in prison for possessing a gun, even a fake gun, without a permit. A victim of New Jersey's strict gun laws, many said.

"I was ready to fight this," Bellario told Patch outside the Middlesex County Courthouse Wednesday afternoon. He had already turned down an earlier plea offer in March, one that came with 3-5 years of jail time attached. "To me, this case, my arrest — it all lacked such common sense. It was unreal."

But Bellario, a stand-up comedian and a struggling actor, also has a criminal record: Six prior convictions in two states, including for theft, credit card theft, and burglary. He has two young sons. He was facing a long time in jail if he gambled on a trial. In a dramatic turn of events, he accepted the prosecutor's plea deal Wednesday afternoon: Confess to false public alarm, a third-degree charge, and do three years of probation. No jail time.

"As much as I would love, LOVE to fight this, I sat down with my lawyer and decided the deck is stacked against me," Bellario said. "But there's just no common sense in this case. OK, yes, you can blame it on me, that my record would have hurt me. But Jesus Christ, look at the merits of this case."

Bellario said he hopes the Middlesex County prosecutor's office pursues criminal charges against the production company, who he says abandoned him and refused to bail him out of Middlesex County jail after his arrest. He plans on filing a civil suit against the producer, as well.

“I'm really mad at the production company for putting me in this predicament. The producer of the movie told my family he would bail me out, but when he found out the bail was $10,000 he declined," Bellario said. "He left my family frantic. He ignored their phone calls and my family had to lay out over $4,500 for the bondsman and other expenses."

"New Jersey's gun laws are absurd," said Bellario's lawyer, Jef Henninger. "With his criminal record, he was looking at 15 years in jail and if the judge really wants to throw the book at him, it could be 30 years. There is a lot of blame to go around in this case: Yes, he has an extensive criminal record. That made things difficult. But our gun laws also made things difficult."

But there is one group Bellario is not mad at: The residents of Ridgefield Drive in Woodbridge.

"I do understand their point of view. I think they realize I wasn't out there to harm them," he said. "Most of the people who were there that day heard what happened to me and say, it's terrible what happened to this guy."

Sentencing is in October.