Former Englishtown councilman John Alite, who previously spent years in the Gambino crime family orbit, has been indicted with his son and another man in an alleged loansharking and extortion scheme. All three defendants are presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
John Alite has lived enough different lives to make a normal political biography look aggressively boring. He has been described in prior reporting as a former Gambino crime-family figure, served years in prison, testified against members of the Gotti family and later became a local councilman in New Jersey.
Now prosecutors say the former Englishtown official is back in a very different kind of government document: a state grand-jury indictment. New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport announced charges against Alite, his son John P. Alite and a third man, Stephen Locrotondo, in an alleged loansharking, extortion and money-laundering scheme.
The elder Alite faces multiple counts including theft by extortion, corporate misconduct, usury, money laundering, terroristic threats and conspiracy. Prosecutors allege he made loans at interest rates above what New Jersey law permits and then used threats of violence to collect money or property from borrowers.
Authorities also allege that Alite used two businesses — Straightened-Out Entertainment Inc. and Alite Consulting LLC — to advance the scheme. ‘Straightened-Out Entertainment’ is an especially unfortunate company name to see appear in a press release about alleged extortion, but prosecutors, not branding consultants, are now driving that conversation.
Alite’s son, John P. Alite, 35, was indicted on usury, conspiracy and money-laundering charges. Locrotondo, 68, faces allegations including usury, extortion, corporate misconduct, conspiracy and money laundering.
The charges are allegations, and none of the defendants has been convicted in this case. New Jersey’s Attorney General’s Office explicitly notes that all three are presumed innocent unless and until prosecutors prove the charges in court.
The political angle is what makes the elder Alite’s story especially strange. He was serving on the Englishtown Borough Council when he was arrested in June, meaning a man with a widely reported organized-crime past had managed to reinvent himself as an elected municipal official before prosecutors accused him of operating an old-school lending scheme.
News 12 reported that Alite previously spent 14 years in prison and testified against members of the Gotti family. That history does not prove the new allegations, but it does explain why ‘former councilman indicted’ undersells the backstory by several chapters.
The state says victims were allegedly pressured through intimidation and threats of violence. Prosecutors are also pursuing financial counts tied to the businesses and movement of money they say was connected to the alleged operation.
Alite was removed from his council position after his June arrest, according to the Attorney General’s Office. His latest case will now move through the courts, where prosecutors will have to prove that the alleged lending and threats amounted to the crimes listed in the indictment.
For now, the only thing more bizarre than a former Gambino associate becoming a New Jersey councilman is the possibility that his political comeback will end in a loansharking trial alongside his son. Municipal government does not usually come with this much family-business energy.
