Crime and Corruption: The Albano Years

Anthony Ardolino
April 24th, 2014
SPRINGFIELD, Mass (WGGB) Ten years ago was a
bad time for the city of Springfield and disgraced Mayor
Michael J. Albano. Not only was the city in tough
financial shape as a result of sloppy management and
corruption, but some of the people in key leadership
positions, many of them appointed by Albano, were the
focus of a full blown federal probe.
It was an investigation that the FBI began in 2000. A task
force looking into organized crime turned its focus to the
public sector. They were looking for evidence of payoffs,
influence peddling and racketeering by current and
former public officials in Springfield.
Its one that reached to the highest level at Springfield City Hall.
Barely out of college, Anthony Ardolino was chief of staff to Springfield Mayor Michael Albano
from 1996 to 2001.
In November 2005, the FBI investigation accused him of failing to pay a quarter of a million
dollars in taxes.
The government alleged that Anthony Ardolino and his brother, Chester, a former Springfield
police officer, had a 20 percent stake in two Springfield bars, The Civic Pub and The Pour house,
but their names were kept off the books because they were on the city payroll.
The Ardolinos and the bars owner, Matt Campagnari, were charged with paying themselves and
the bar employees under the table.
The government said they hid about $725,000 in income and wages from the Internal Revenue
Service between 1999 and 2002.
The Ardolinos were also accused of fixing $14,000 in parking tickets.
In March 2007, Anthony Ardolino plead guilty to one count of conspiracy and four counts of tax
fraud related to his bar business. He was sentenced to a year in federal prison.
His brother, Chester, also received a one year sentence, while Campagnari got 18 months.

When reached for comment, Ardolino was forthcoming, but emphatic, that his plea deal had
nothing to do with his time in public office and was merely a matter of how he handled the
payment of taxes for his bar and its employees.