Another Former Charlie Brown's Exec Sentenced

TRENTON—A former Charlie Brown's Steakhouse executive was sentenced Tuesday to eight months of home confinement on charges stemming from a conspiracy that netted more than $1 million in bribes.

Michael Mulligan, 51, of West Milford, became the second Charlie Brown's executive sentenced in the bribery scheme. His former boss, 50-year-old Russell D'Anton, received a two-year prison sentence last Thursday.

The Blackwood Charlie Brown's was among 20 locations in the chain, including 13 in New Jersey, to close in mid-November shortly after parent company CB Holding Corp. filed for bankruptcy.

U.S. District Judge Mary L. Cooper also ordered that Mulligan, who was a vice president with Charlie Brown's, serve three years of probation upon completion of the home-confinement sentence and pay still-undetermined restitution, according to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, who announced the sentence.

Mulligan previously pleaded guilty to one count each of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and tax evasion.

D'Anton, who was the restaurant chain's CEO and president, and Mulligan used their positions as executives to direct business to vendors who paid them bribes in the form of cash, checks and in-kind payments, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for New Jersey. The scheme ran from at least as early as 1999 through 2008.

Both men admitted they accepted kickbacks from a variety of vendors, including a construction company and vendors who provided the restaurant chain with refrigeration services and bakery products.

The kickbacks included expensive home appliances.