N.J. gym owner who defied COVID lockdown cleared of 80+ charges, attorney says
NJ.com (archive.ph)
By Anthony G. Attrino
2024-05-21 19:05:00GMT
Police hand Atilis Gym owners Frank Trumbetti, middle, and Ian Smith, left, a summons in 2020 after they opened the doors for business despite the state's order that all such facilities remain closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The South Jersey business owner who defied Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID lockdown orders by keeping his gym open, racking up dozens of court summonses, has been cleared of all charges, his attorney said Tuesday.
Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, opened his facility during the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020 in defiance of a state-ordered closing of nonessential businesses. Police arrested some gym members as they left after workouts at the facility.
Smith and co-owner Frank Trumbetti faced more than 80 summonses charging them with violating a governor’s orders, operating without a mercantile license, creating a public nuisance and disturbing the peace.
At one point, the state Attorney General’s office recommended fines of up to $10,000 a day and imprisonment for the owners of Atilis if they did not shutter their business. Many of the charges also carried up to six months in jail, said Smith’s attorney, John McCann of Oakland in Bergen County.
Following an appeals court ruling on the state fines, the gym was ordered to pay about $165,000 in fines for violating the public health emergency rules issued by Murphy and state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.
Though the state and municipal cases were separate, McCann said now that the local charges have been dismissed he’s looking to see if he can retrieve the money the gym owners paid in state fines based on the dismissal of the municipal charges.
“When you look at this, it didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. It kind of looked like they were throwing everything they could at these guys,” McCann said.
McCann said the summonses were written up by the Bellmawr Police Department, but the cases were later transferred to Winslow Township Municipal Court due to a conflict.
“Those charges hung over these guys’ heads for over four years,” McCann said.
On April 24, a judge in Winslow Township dismissed the charges but gave the prosecutors until this week to appeal.
“We didn’t get a lot of cooperation from Bellmawr with regard to discovery. The only thing we got with regard to discovery was the summonses,” McCann said Tuesday.
“You need the reports, you need a whole bunch of stuff. The judge in Winslow said Bellmawr didn’t provide their court with meaningful discovery to give to us,” McCann said. “She basically said that Bellmawr ignored the requests.”
When there was no appeal from officials in Bellmawr or the state, all charges were dropped with prejudice, meaning they cannot be filed again, according to McCann.
Bellmawr’s court clerk on Tuesday declined to comment on the case, and the court clerk in Winslow Township was not immediately available to comment.
A spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a call and an email seeking comment Tuesday morning.
Atilis Gym co-owner Ian Smith, left, holds a summons he received from police after he opened the doors for business despite the state's order that all such facilities remain closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
In an interview during the pandemic, Smith accused the state of being “very selective” about which businesses could stay open and those that could not.
“Telling people that liquor stores are essential but places they can come to work on their physical and mental health is not — it’s just not adding up. So, we decided to take matters into our own hands,” Smith said at the time.
In May 2020, the business filed a federal lawsuit against the state, accusing Murphy, along with then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and other New Jersey officials of violating the owners’ constitutional rights by forcing them out of business indefinitely with no timeline for when they can reopen.
McCann on Tuesday said Atilis’ owners did not make money off gym memberships during the pandemic. The facility, for that period of time, became the campaign headquarters for Republican U.S Senate candidate Rik Mehta, who challenged Democrat Cory Booker for his U.S. Senate seat.
People entering Atilis were exercising their right to volunteer for Mehta’s candidacy. If they worked out while they were there, they were not charged a membership fee, McCann said.
“There was no income coming in but for the GoFundMe money they were raising to fight the state,” McCann said. The GoFundMe raised more than $530,000 for the gym owners’ cause.
On Sunday, Smith took to social media to claim victory in the gym’s fight against the state.
“The support we received locally, nationally, and internationally for our stand is something I will be forever grateful for,” Smith said.
NJ.com (archive.ph)
By Anthony G. Attrino
2024-05-21 19:05:00GMT
Police hand Atilis Gym owners Frank Trumbetti, middle, and Ian Smith, left, a summons in 2020 after they opened the doors for business despite the state's order that all such facilities remain closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
The South Jersey business owner who defied Gov. Phil Murphy’s COVID lockdown orders by keeping his gym open, racking up dozens of court summonses, has been cleared of all charges, his attorney said Tuesday.
Ian Smith, co-owner of Atilis Gym in Bellmawr, opened his facility during the coronavirus pandemic in May 2020 in defiance of a state-ordered closing of nonessential businesses. Police arrested some gym members as they left after workouts at the facility.
Smith and co-owner Frank Trumbetti faced more than 80 summonses charging them with violating a governor’s orders, operating without a mercantile license, creating a public nuisance and disturbing the peace.
At one point, the state Attorney General’s office recommended fines of up to $10,000 a day and imprisonment for the owners of Atilis if they did not shutter their business. Many of the charges also carried up to six months in jail, said Smith’s attorney, John McCann of Oakland in Bergen County.
Following an appeals court ruling on the state fines, the gym was ordered to pay about $165,000 in fines for violating the public health emergency rules issued by Murphy and state Health Commissioner Judith Persichilli.
Though the state and municipal cases were separate, McCann said now that the local charges have been dismissed he’s looking to see if he can retrieve the money the gym owners paid in state fines based on the dismissal of the municipal charges.
“When you look at this, it didn’t make a lot of sense at the time. It kind of looked like they were throwing everything they could at these guys,” McCann said.
McCann said the summonses were written up by the Bellmawr Police Department, but the cases were later transferred to Winslow Township Municipal Court due to a conflict.
“Those charges hung over these guys’ heads for over four years,” McCann said.
On April 24, a judge in Winslow Township dismissed the charges but gave the prosecutors until this week to appeal.
“We didn’t get a lot of cooperation from Bellmawr with regard to discovery. The only thing we got with regard to discovery was the summonses,” McCann said Tuesday.
“You need the reports, you need a whole bunch of stuff. The judge in Winslow said Bellmawr didn’t provide their court with meaningful discovery to give to us,” McCann said. “She basically said that Bellmawr ignored the requests.”
When there was no appeal from officials in Bellmawr or the state, all charges were dropped with prejudice, meaning they cannot be filed again, according to McCann.
Bellmawr’s court clerk on Tuesday declined to comment on the case, and the court clerk in Winslow Township was not immediately available to comment.
A spokesperson for the state Attorney General’s Office did not immediately respond to a call and an email seeking comment Tuesday morning.
Atilis Gym co-owner Ian Smith, left, holds a summons he received from police after he opened the doors for business despite the state's order that all such facilities remain closed to slow the spread of the coronavirus in 2020.Tim Hawk | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
In an interview during the pandemic, Smith accused the state of being “very selective” about which businesses could stay open and those that could not.
“Telling people that liquor stores are essential but places they can come to work on their physical and mental health is not — it’s just not adding up. So, we decided to take matters into our own hands,” Smith said at the time.
In May 2020, the business filed a federal lawsuit against the state, accusing Murphy, along with then-Attorney General Gurbir Grewal and other New Jersey officials of violating the owners’ constitutional rights by forcing them out of business indefinitely with no timeline for when they can reopen.
McCann on Tuesday said Atilis’ owners did not make money off gym memberships during the pandemic. The facility, for that period of time, became the campaign headquarters for Republican U.S Senate candidate Rik Mehta, who challenged Democrat Cory Booker for his U.S. Senate seat.
People entering Atilis were exercising their right to volunteer for Mehta’s candidacy. If they worked out while they were there, they were not charged a membership fee, McCann said.
“There was no income coming in but for the GoFundMe money they were raising to fight the state,” McCann said. The GoFundMe raised more than $530,000 for the gym owners’ cause.
On Sunday, Smith took to social media to claim victory in the gym’s fight against the state.
“The support we received locally, nationally, and internationally for our stand is something I will be forever grateful for,” Smith said.
