Tony Teixeira pleads guilty to tax evasion

On Nov 21, 2022

The former chief of staff to the New Jersey Senate president pleaded guilty Monday to one count of tax evasion and one count of wire fraud conspiracy in federal court in Newark.

Tony Teixeira, 43, olf Elizabeth, made the guilty pleas before U.S. District Court Judge John Michael Vazquez.

Teixeira had resigned from his Statehouse position last month, according to a statement at the time from Sen. Nicholas Scutari, D-Union, president of the state Senate.

Teixeira was involved in a conspiracy to falsely inflate the invoices that a political consultant submitted to various campaigns, political action committees, and IRS 501(c)(4) organizations, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

Teixeira had been listed in a September 2021 state subpoena seeking details on payments from political consultant Sean Caddle, the man at the center of a murder-for-hire plot.

The state demanded information on nearly $50,000 in payments from Caddle and his consulting firm Arkady to Teixeira and his wife between 2015 and 2017.

Caddle is on home confinement after pleading guilty to hiring hitmen to kill his former friend and associate, and is cooperating with federal authorities on an unknown investigation, according to his attorney.

In the past Teixeira did not respond to questions about what the payments were for. Caddle told NorthJersey.com in a phone call earlier this year that Teixeira did not work for Arkady, but confirmed he paid Teixeira.

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During the time period Teixeira was collecting checks from Caddle and Arkady, he was chief of staff to former state Sen. Ray Lesniak, a Union County Democrat who worked closely with Caddle up until Caddle’s guilty plea in January.

“Tony has unquestionably endured his share of hardships, and while he has served the public in many admirable capacities and is a friend, nonetheless he erred and I acknowledge that,” Scutari said in his October statement. “I am glad Tony is accepting responsibility for his personal financial actions.”

Scutari resigned from his posts as chair of the Elizabeth Democratic Party and member of the Union County Board of Elections, according to a report from Politico New Jersey.