TRENTON, N.J. – A Hudson County, New Jersey, man, who served as the senior accountant of the City of Bayonne Department of Community Development (CBDCD) was sentenced today to 21 months in prison for accepting $65,000 in bribe payments in exchange for his assistance in awarding projects funded by U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development grants, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Anselmo Crisonino, 56, of Bayonne, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Peter G. Sheridan in Trenton federal court to a four-count information charging him with one count of accepting bribe payments totaling approximately $65,000 from Joseph Arrigo, the owner of a contracting company in Bayonne. Crisonino also pleaded guilty to one count of theft and conversion of federal funds ($422,360), one count of conducting an illegal gambling business, and one count of submitting a false tax return for tax year 2011.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

The CBDCD was an agency that received funds from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under a federal program that provided grants up to $20,000 to low income families to rehabilitate their homes and to repair conditions affecting health and safety, accessibility, energy efficiency or code compliance. The CBDCD also provided these HUD funds under the same federal program to nonprofit organizations. Crisonino was responsible for reviewing applications and awarding such funds to qualified applicants...