Ex-NF mayor wants record set straight

NIAGARA FALLS, N.Y. (WIVB) - Former Niagara Falls Mayor Vince Anello has been out of federal prison now for about two months and wants to set the record straight.

The former politician's story dates back years, when he first came under suspicion for a business deal and was accused of corruption. Eventually those charges were dropped, but prosecutors weren't finished with him and later nailed him for pension fraud.

Anello spokes to News 4 on Tuesday because said he wanted to set the record straight on why he went to prison and other issues he admitted to in his plea agreement with the federal government. He served 10 months of a 13 month sentence for submitting false information to his electrical workers union pension fund after he was mayor. By deliberately under-reporting the number of hours he actually worked, he illegally began collecting his IBEW pension check.

>>You can see the entire video with Anello in this story by clicking on the additional video clip

"I admit I made a mistake," said Anello. "Look, I did something wrong with the union, not as mayor of the city of Niagara Falls."

In his plea agreement, the former mayor admitted that around the time he was running for office, he received $40,000 in undisclosed payments from smoke shop owner Joseph "Smokin' Joe" Anderson.

In December of 2010, Asst. U.S. Attorney Paul Campana said, "Mr. Anello and Mr. Anderson agreed to keep those payments secret and not disclose them to the public."

Later, while Anello was mayor, he recommended that Anderson's company be awarded a lease for the city's East Pedestrian Mall. To this day he insists he did nothing wrong, keeping the lease negotiations at arms length, he says. But he added he wished he had disclosed the money he received from Anderson.

"Should I have made it public? Yes, if I thought if I was creating a conflict, okay? Would it have been easier if I had disclosed it? Of course it would have been easier," Anello stated.

He says he will always had the best interests of the taxpayers in mind when he was mayor and said he refuses to be defined by one mistake he made. He said he still loves his city.

Anello assured, "I'm the best cheerleader Niagara Falls has, and I'm going to continue to be that way. I have no axe to grind. I have no animosity against anybody, you know?"

Anello is still paying back what he owes his union. He says he is also paying back Joe Anderson for the $40,000.