Inside seedy sex club in NJ that led to racketeering charges against family

✖ Cops say prostitution, illegal booze at NJ strip club

✖ NJ family face 21-count indictment

✖ Nearly $1M in cash, gold, silver found at two NJ homes

The family accused of running an illegal brothel out of a Sayreville strip club has been hit with new charges, including racketeering.

A state grand jury has returned a 21-count indictment against 59-year-old Anthony Acciardi Sr., 56-year-old Doreen Acciardi and 26-year-old Stephen Acciardi — all from Freehold Township — as well as 30-year-old Anthony Acciardi Jr., of Old Bridge.

Both parents and their adult sons have acted as owners or managers at Club 35, along Route 9.

Other relatives facing accusations and charges include Doreen Acciardi’s sister, Jeannine Nichols, and Nichols’ husband, Jason Portes, both club managers.

Club employee Jennifer Hecker was a dancer accused of soliciting undercover detectives for commercial sex acts.

The investigation into the strip club along Route 35 revealed that it doubled as a house of prostitution that generated millions of dollars in illegal revenue.

Inside seedy sex club

Investigators found that customers paid a fee to the business to enter the VIP area for private dances, then had an option of paying additional money directly to dancers for sex.

Some of that activity was seen among hundreds of hours of video surveillance footage from security cameras throughout the club.

A search of the club turned up a large bag of about 700 condoms. Condoms were also stocked in a vending machine in the club’s locker room.

Evidence seized from the search of the club also included lubricant and sex toys.

The club has also been accused of illegally selling alcohol on premises, despite state regulations of the business as BYOB.

Various types of liquor were hidden in a rear shed on the property, according to prosecutors.

On Monday, the grand jury voted to file criminal charges against the four Acciardis, the three other employees and three corporate entities — 35 Club, Acciboys, LLC, which owned ATMs, and Alana, Inc.

“Our investigation determined that the operators of Club XXXV were using various illegal means to turn their club into a multimillion-dollar racket,” state Attorney General Platkin said in a written release on Friday.

“We allege that these defendants enriched themselves unlawfully, masked the illicit sources of their income, and generated a host of quality-of-life issues for the residents of their community.”

In response, one of Doreen Acciardi's defense attorneys, Jeffrey Bronster, said that Platkin's statement to the news media "went beyond proper comment on a pending case and violated two of New Jersey’s Rules of Professional Conduct."

On Friday evening, Bronster was seeking an emergency hearing to request a gag order against the Attorney General's Office.

Nearly $1M in cash, gold, silver found at two NJ Acciardi homes

At the time of their initial arrest last year, police recovered roughly $720,000 from the home of Doreen Acciardi and Anthony Acciardi Sr. — $140,000 in cash, $283,000 in gold and $297,000 in silver.

Another $225,000 was found at the residence of Anthony Acciardi Jr. — $117,000 in cash, $61,000 in silver and $47,000 in gold.

Bank records show that since 2017, more than $10 million has been deposited and withdrawn from a number of both personal and business accounts associated with several businesses, including Club 35 and Acciboys.

Some of the defendants have been accused of “significantly” under-reporting their income on state tax returns, in an effort to dodge taxes and hide proceeds of criminal activity.

In May 2021, Nichols, Portes and Hecker were all arrested for promoting prostitution. Hecker was also charged with solicitation of prostitution and money laundering.

Read More: NJ family faces charges for prostitution operation at ‘nude’ bar 

After numerous reports of prostitution there between 2019 and 2021, Sayreville Police, along with officers from the Middlesex County Guns, Gangs and Drugs Task Force and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, carried out search warrants at Club 35 last year.

The case was then taken over by the state Office of Public Integrity and Accountability Corruption Bureau.

The club reopened for business last month, amid earlier charges announced by the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office.

In September, charges of money laundering were dismissed against another of the Acciardi's adult children.

Anthony Acciardi Sr., 59, of Freehold Township

◾ first-degree racketeering
◾ first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity (3 counts)
◾ second-degree promoting organized street crime
◾ third-degree promoting prostitution
◾ second-degree misconduct by a corporate official
◾ third-degree filing fraudulent tax return
◾ third-degree failure to pay income taxes
◾ third-degree failure to file tax returns
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a nuisance
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a sexually oriented business
◾ fourth-degree falsifying records

Doreen (Livingston) Acciardi, 56, of Freehold Township

◾ first-degree racketeering
◾ second-degree conspiracy
◾ first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity (3 counts)
◾ second-degree promoting organized street crime
◾ third-degree promoting prostitution
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a sexually oriented business
◾ second-degree misconduct by a corporate official
◾ third-degree filing fraudulent tax return
◾ third-degree failure to pay income taxes
◾ third-degree failure to file tax returns
◾ third-degree failure to pay business income taxes
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a nuisance
◾ fourth-degree falsifying records
◾ third-degree filing fraudulent business tax return

Anthony Acciardi Jr., 30, of Old Bridge

◾ first-degree racketeering
◾ second-degree conspiracy
◾ first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity (3 counts)
◾ second-degree promoting organized street crime
◾ third-degree promoting prostitution
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a nuisance
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a sexually oriented business
◾ second-degree misconduct by a corporate official

Stephen Acciardi, 26, of Freehold

◾ first-degree racketeering
◾ second-degree conspiracy
◾ first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity (3 counts)
◾ second-degree promoting organized street crime
◾ third-degree promoting prostitution
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a nuisance
◾ fourth-degree maintaining a sexually oriented business
◾ second-degree misconduct by a corporate official (2 counts)
◾ third-degree filing fraudulent tax return
◾ third-degree failure to pay income taxes
◾ third-degree failure to file tax returns
◾ third-degree failure to pay business income taxes
◾ fourth-degree falsifying records
◾ third-degree filing fraudulent business tax return

Jason Portes, 41, of South Amboy

◾ first-degree racketeering
◾ second-degree conspiracy
◾ third-degree promoting prostitution

Jeanine Nichols, 59, of South Amboy

◾ first-degree racketeering
◾ second-degree conspiracy
◾ third-degree promoting prostitution

Jennifer Hecker, 45, of Parlin

◾ second-degree conspiracy
◾ second-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity
◾ third-degree theft by deception
◾ third-degree filing fraudulent tax return
◾ third-degree failure to pay income taxes

Each of the three companies — Acciboys, 35 Club and Alana, also faced first-degree racketeering, second-degree conspiracy and third-degree promoting prostitution.

Acciboys and 35 Club also were slapped with three counts of first-degree financial facilitation of criminal activity and third-degree filing fraudulent business tax return.

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